5 Tips for making yourself more findable on the web

ComputerWorld asked a great question this week and it reminded me of the tree-falling-in-the-forest question:
If someone searches for you on the Web and comes up empty-handed, do you exist?

Tim Bray, director of Web technologies at Sun Microsystems Inc, says,

In today’s job market, turning up missing on the Web may not be a fatal flaw, and it’s probably better than having a search result in a photo of you in a hula skirt. But over time, the lack of a Web presence — particularly for IT professionals — may well turn from a neutral to a negative.

Bray believes that senior-level candidates looking for jobs with core technology providers should have some type of presence on the web:

If someone came looking for a senior-level job and had left no mark on the Internet, I‚Äôd see that as a big negative … most companies would rather have somebody who has demonstrated the propensity to contribute, and one [sign] of that is going out and getting involved, joining in the discussion.

To that end, Mary Brandel (ComputerWorld) offers up 5 tips for making yourself more “findable” on the web:
1). Know where people look
Check out Google and Yahoo – what will googlers discover about you?
Be aware that many recruiters also use tools such as Technorati, Daypop, and Blogdigger (if you are a recruiter and aren’t familiar with these sites, you should be).
2). Start a blog
Some companies sponsor corporate blogs and encourage employee participation (in fact, I just read on ERE that Cingular (the new at&t) is starting a recruiting blog (of course, I wait with much anticipation).
But you can also establish your own through free blog hosting sites such as Blogger.com, (my personal home-away-from-home) LiveJournal.com, Blog-City.com,and Xanga.com.
3). Join the open-source code community (if you are truly a geek)
4). Build a Web page
5). Create a Web profile
I’ve created multiple web profiles – maybe I’m a bit overboard, but when it comes to recruiters in the wireless industry, I want to be found.
I have a Ziggs profile HERE (Ziggs was down so I couldn’t get to my profile) ; a Jobster profile HERE; a Ziki profile HERE; a Naymz profile HERE; and of course, a LinkedIn profile HERE.
5.5). Join a Community
I’m adding my own personal touch to Mary’s list – if you haven’t joined a community related to your livelihood, you are missing out.
I recently created a Wireless-Jobs Community Group on Yahoo! HERE (you’ll have to login to Yahoo to be directed to the Wireless-Jobs Community). Feel free to join and network with other recruiters engaged in the wireless community.
So, job seeker, let me ask you this… what are you doing to participate in the conversation?

*Read Brandel’s complete ComputerWorld article HERE.