Article 7: Building Your Online Presence | LinkedIn, Portfolios, and What Employers Google

Your Digital Footprint Is Already Part of Your Application

Here is something worth thinking about. Before a recruiter calls you in for an interview, and often before they even finish reading your CV, there is a very good chance they have already looked you up online.

This is not unusual or invasive. It is just what people do. When you are about to meet someone new in a professional context, you look them up. Employers and recruiters are no different. A quick Google search, a look at your LinkedIn profile, a scroll through your public social media, and they already have an impression of you before you have said a word.

The question is not whether this is happening. It is whether what they find is helping or hurting you.

The good news is that you have far more control over your online presence than most people realise. You do not need to be a tech expert, you do not need a personal website, and you do not need thousands of followers on anything. What you do need is a professional LinkedIn profile, some basic awareness of your public social media, and, depending on your field, possibly a simple portfolio of your work.

This article walks you through all of it, step by step.

Why LinkedIn Matters More Than Ever

LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional networking platform, and in South Africa it is increasingly used by recruiters and hiring managers as a primary tool for finding and vetting candidates. Many recruiters search LinkedIn before they even post a job publicly. If you are not on LinkedIn, or if your profile is incomplete or out of date, you are invisible to a significant portion of the job market.

But LinkedIn is not just a job board. It is a living professional profile that works for you around the clock. A well-built LinkedIn profile can attract job opportunities you never applied for, connect you with people who can open doors in your industry, and give recruiters the confidence that you are a serious, credible professional.

If you do not have a LinkedIn profile yet, creating one should be near the top of your job search to-do list. If you do have one but have not updated it in a while, now is the time to give it some attention.

Building a Strong LinkedIn Profile

Think of your LinkedIn profile as your online CV, but with more personality and more room to tell your story. Here is how to build one that actually works.

Your Profile Photo

This is the first thing people see, and it matters more than you might think. Profiles with a professional photo receive significantly more views and connection requests than those without one.

You do not need a formal studio portrait. A clean, well-lit photo where you are dressed professionally, looking directly at the camera, and smiling naturally is perfectly fine. Use your phone if that is what you have, just make sure the background is simple and uncluttered, the lighting is good, and the photo is recent.

Avoid group photos, holiday photos, heavily filtered selfies, or anything where you are wearing a hat, sunglasses, or anything else that obscures your face. This is a professional platform. Your photo should reflect that.

Your Headline

Your LinkedIn headline is the short line of text that appears directly below your name. By default, LinkedIn sets this to your current job title and employer. But you can and should customise it, because your headline is one of the most important pieces of text on your profile. It appears in search results, in connection requests, and every time your name shows up anywhere on the platform.

A good headline does more than state your job title. It tells people what you do and what value you bring, in a way that is easy to understand and remember.

Instead of: “Unemployed” or “Seeking New Opportunities”

Try: “Customer Service Professional | 5 Years in Retail Banking | Passionate About Client Experience”

Or: “Recent BCom Graduate | Finance & Accounting | Eager to Add Value in a Fast-Paced Environment”

Your headline can be up to 220 characters. Use the space wisely to describe who you are professionally in a way that would appeal to the kind of employer you are looking for.

Your About Section

The About section is your opportunity to introduce yourself in your own voice. It is longer than a CV summary and slightly more personal in tone. Think of it as a chance to tell your professional story, not just list your credentials.

A good About section covers who you are professionally, what you are good at, what kind of work you are looking for, and perhaps a brief mention of what drives you or what you care about in your work. It should be written in the first person and should sound like a real human being wrote it.

Aim for three to five short paragraphs. Use plain language. Avoid jargon and buzzwords. And end with a call to action, something like “Feel free to connect if you are looking for someone with my background, or if you would like to discuss potential opportunities.”

Your Experience Section

Fill in your work experience the same way you would on your CV. Include your job title, the company name, the dates you worked there, and a brief description of your responsibilities and achievements.

You have a bit more space here than on a CV, so you can be slightly more detailed if it adds value. But do not turn it into an essay. Keep descriptions focused and relevant.

If you have gaps in your employment history, LinkedIn gives you the option to add other types of experience such as volunteering, freelance work, or projects. Use these sections to fill in the picture of what you were doing during any periods you were not formally employed.

Your Education and Skills Sections

Fill in your education section completely, including qualifications, institutions, and dates. Add your skills to the skills section, as LinkedIn allows your connections to endorse you for these skills, which adds a layer of credibility to your profile.

When adding skills, focus on the ones most relevant to your target role. You can add up to fifty skills, but a focused list of fifteen to twenty strong, relevant skills is more useful than a bloated list of everything you have ever done.

Recommendations

LinkedIn allows people to write recommendations for you that appear directly on your profile. A genuine recommendation from a former manager, colleague, or client is one of the most powerful things you can have on your profile because it provides third-party validation of your abilities.

Do not be shy about asking for recommendations. Reach out to former managers or colleagues, explain that you are actively looking for new opportunities, and ask if they would be willing to write a brief recommendation. Most people are happy to do this, especially if you offer to write one for them in return.

Your Profile URL

LinkedIn automatically assigns you a long, messy URL when you create your profile. You can customise this to something clean and professional, ideally your name. For example: linkedin.com/in/thabomokoena

A clean URL looks more professional on your CV and in email signatures, and it is easier for people to find you.

Being Active on LinkedIn

Having a complete profile is a great start. But the people who get the most out of LinkedIn are the ones who engage with it regularly, even in small ways.

You do not need to post content every day. But a few simple habits can significantly increase your visibility on the platform:

Connect with people you know. Start by connecting with former colleagues, classmates, managers, and anyone else you have worked or studied with. Each connection expands your network and increases the chances of your profile being seen.

Follow the companies you are interested in. This keeps you informed about what they are doing, any vacancies they post, and news about their industry. All of this is useful material for interview preparation later.

Like, comment on, or share posts that are relevant to your field. Even occasional engagement keeps your profile active and visible. When you comment thoughtfully on someone else’s post, their entire network sees your name and your profile.

Share useful content occasionally. You do not need to be an influencer. Sharing an interesting industry article, a certificate you just earned, or a brief update about something professional you have achieved shows that you are active and engaged in your field.

What Happens When Employers Google You

Beyond LinkedIn, many employers will simply type your name into a search engine to see what comes up. This is your broader online footprint, and it is worth being aware of what it looks like.

Do a quick Google search of your own name right now if you have not recently. What appears? Are there any social media profiles, forum posts, news articles, or other content associated with your name that a potential employer might find?

If what you find looks professional and positive, great. If you find things that you would be embarrassed for an employer to see, it is time to do some housekeeping.

Managing Your Social Media

Social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and X (formerly Twitter) are personal spaces, but they are also potentially public ones. Many people do not realise how much of their social media activity is visible to anyone who looks.

Here are some simple steps to take before you start applying for jobs:

Check your privacy settings. Go into the privacy settings of each platform you use and make sure your posts are only visible to your friends or followers, not to the general public. This does not mean deleting your accounts or pretending to be someone you are not. It just means taking control of who can see what.

Review your recent posts and photos. Scroll back through your public content and ask yourself honestly: would I be comfortable if a potential employer saw this? Posts that are aggressively negative, offensive, or unprofessional should be deleted or restricted. Photos from social events are generally fine, but use your judgment.

Be careful about what you post during your job search. While you are actively looking for work, be mindful of what you share publicly. Posting complaints about your previous employer, controversial political opinions, or anything that could be seen as unprofessional is worth avoiding.

None of this means you cannot have a personal life or personality online. It just means being a little more thoughtful about what is visible to people who do not know you yet.

Do You Need a Portfolio?

For some careers, a portfolio of your work is an incredibly powerful addition to your application. For others, it is not necessary at all. Here is a rough guide.

You probably need a portfolio if you work in a creative field such as graphic design, photography, video production, web development, writing, architecture, or interior design. In these industries, showing your work is often more important than describing it.

A portfolio can be very useful if you are in marketing, communications, education, social media management, or any role where you produce tangible outputs that demonstrate your skills.

A portfolio is less relevant if you work in fields like finance, administration, customer service, logistics, or similar areas where your work does not produce a visible product that can be shown to others.

If a portfolio is relevant to your field, it does not need to be elaborate. A simple, clean PDF document with selected examples of your best work, or a basic free website built on a platform like Wix, Canva, or Google Sites, is more than sufficient. The key is that it is organised, easy to navigate, and shows your best work, not everything you have ever done.

Putting It All Together

Your online presence is an extension of your professional brand. When all the pieces work together, which means a strong LinkedIn profile, clean and professional social media, and, where relevant, a portfolio of your work, you create a consistent, credible impression that supports every application you make.

This does not have to happen overnight. Start with LinkedIn, since it will have the most immediate impact on your job search. Then work through your social media privacy settings. Then consider whether a portfolio adds value for your specific career path.

Each of these steps is straightforward on its own. Together, they significantly strengthen your overall candidacy and give you an advantage that many of your fellow job seekers simply have not thought about.

You Are More Findable Than You Think

The modern job search is a two-way street. Yes, you are out there looking for opportunities. But employers and recruiters are also out there looking for candidates. The more professionally visible you are online, the more likely it is that the right opportunity finds you, even when you are not actively looking for it.

That is a genuinely exciting prospect. And it starts with taking your online presence seriously.

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Next up: Article 8, Understanding the Recruitment Process, where we pull back the curtain on what actually happens after you submit your application, so you know what to expect, how long things typically take, and how to handle the waiting without losing your mind.