Create a Professional Online Presence (Coursera)

From Facebook to Instagram and beyond, you’ll explore which social media platform suits your career goals and how to select which platforms you should build your professional persona. You’ll also develop an actionable plan to make your online profiles work in your favour.

You’ll consider your privacy and security settings, and learn how to build and manage a professional network. You will understand how different types of online content work on different audiences and examine the ways in which conduct and tone can affect your professional reputation online.

By the end of the course, you’ll understand the importance of your online identity and how to manage it to boost your employability.

What You Will Learn

- Explain the direct and indirect activities that contribute to online presence and evaluate your own online presence.

- Improve your personal professional presence and compare different platforms to analyse their suitability for your needs.

- Classify communications strategies and develop a plan for an effective online presence.

Syllabus

WEEK 1

Week 1 - What makes up your professional online presence?

This week, you will explore whether your own professional online presence is helping or hindering your career. During the activities, you’ll explore the risks and benefits of having a presence online, look at your digital fingerprint and explore different audiences and privacy settings. You’ll explore what you can do to improve your online presence or make it more professional, look at different approaches and find out about some easy changes you can make. The final steps will guide you through the process of turning your experience and skills from your CV into something impactful.

WEEK 2

Week 2 - How do you build your professional network?

This week you’ll explore how to use different platforms to build your professional online presence and work towards creating a plan to keep your professional online presence up to date. During the activities, you will explore different social and publishing platforms which may be useful for creating or boosting a professional profile online. You’ll consider their relative strengths and how they will fit your goals. You will also explore how to create and maintain a network of professional contacts to achieve your professional and personal development goals. At the end of the week, you’ll be exploring how to create an effective plan for your online professional presence, and sharing plans with other learners.