It’s finally feeling like fall! Those of you in public accounting have just finished up with your last deadline, and for many of you, especially in corporate tax jobs, this is the time of year for quarterly provision and other year-end deadlines. I hope that you’ll all have at least a little breather to enjoy these beautiful, crisp autumn days.

As promised, I’m back to finish up the last of this blog series on keeping your tax career on track. One great way to make sure that you are noticed by employers is to improve your presence on social media. Dan Schawbel of Forbes Magazine says, “If you don’t have an online presence, you won’t appear to be relevant and you will be passed over for more savvy applicants that have visibility.” Here are a few tips on making sure you positively stand out online:

• If you’ve been told once, you’ve been told a thousand times, be careful of what you choose to post on your profiles!
• Maximize your LinkedIn profile. This is often the first place employers and recruiters will go when searching for candidates to fill their positions. Add references, ask people you know to endorse your skills, join groups (there’s over 4000 now) and use keywords to boost the chances of being identified in a search. Try to fully complete your profile.
• Create a professional Twitter stream and use it to share articles you like about your field, or discuss business related trends.
• Consider building profiles on other websites to increase your chances of being listed in Google (and other search engines) Zoominfo, Jigsaw and of course, Google are all good places to have a profile.
• Give feedback to others. Find top bloggers, hiring authorities and sites relevant to your field and follow them on LinkedIn and Twitter, then respond to their posts.
• Make a name for yourself. Some experts suggest creating your own website (yourfullname.com) and registering it with a webhosting service.

In a study conducted in August 2011, 70% of all HR and recruiting professionals said their company required them to do an online search before passing resumes along to a Hiring Manager. I’d imagine that number is even higher now.

As always, please feel free to contact anyone in our office if you have questions about a job you saw posted on our job-board, or to begin your job search. We specialize in helping tax professionals just like you and would love to be a resource for your next job search.