I have met many people who are employed in the Pharma industry, financial services and many other fields who aren’t very actively participating in social media.

Many people I encounter in these industries are very successful. Highly goal oriented, well compensated and very sharp.

Then, when you “LinkedIn” with them you see that they are social media newbie’s. Their social media presence isn’t aligned with their career success presence.

Oh sure, they may use Facebook for personal reasons but their LinkedIn presence is less than stellar. Twitter is a ditter for them.

They have poor quality photos on LinkedIn yet these people always dress for success. They have few connections, no recommendations even though they may have been recognized for National sales awards at their company. Their social media presence doesn’t match their career achievements.

They are at the top of their game yet their social media presence makes it seem like they have been under a rock or out of touch.

In most cases the companies that they work for are non adopters of social media for FDA or other compliance issues. Their company’s hesitancy to embrace what the world is practicing is compromising their career in many ways. Many people can become complacent because there isn’t a lot of internal recognition in their companies for being social media savvy. The FDA is light years away from coming out with social media guidelines.

If something should happen to these high achievers who aren’t social media savvy they could be in in for a big hurt. Everybody knows that nobody’s job is secure these days no matter their accomplishments, position, or sales awards.

If they lose their jobs, recruiters won’t find them easily and they won’t look impressive if they do.

They will be at a disadvantage compared to other candidates that have been in the social media game longer. Many of these people may not have their skills but they may be easier to find and sell into an organization.

If you aren’t actively participating in social media you will be in catch up mode. Establishing a strong LinkedIn presence doesn’t happen overnight. Your LinkedIn profile is today’s living resume available to all 24/7.

You can’t allow your social media presence to be dumbed down by the fact that your company doesn’t participate. That is personal career compromise and is simply not a career option these days.

So how do you start?

• Market yourself like with the same level of effort that you market your company’s products.
• Dress for success on social media sites as well.
• You need a high quality brand image that matches your appearance and your pharma wardrobe.
• Invest in yourself by getting a high quality photograph.
• You’ll be less inclined to do that when you are not working.
• Update your activities on social media channels on a daily basis.
• Find Linkedin and Twitter webinars on YouTube and watch them.
• If you need a great Linkedin presentation send me an email.
• Spend thirty minutes a day marketing yourself.
• What is more important to you and your family?  Your marketability or TV?
• Saying that you don’t have time is not the right answer.  A major problem for high achievers who are in transition is that they don’t know what to do with time when they are no longer employed. They go from no time to too much time. They lose their busyness and their familiar rhythm.

Bottom line; if you let your company’s lack of social media engagement dumb you down you may pay a personal price.

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