Vala Ashfar, the chief digital evangelist for Salesforce, visited LVC on Sept. 17 to speak about digital footprints in careers.
The company Ashfar works for, Salesforce, is the fastest growing software company in the world. When discussing this job, he revealed that 99% of his interview was conducted over a Twitter direct message and that he has never had a resume. Ashfar is an example of how the landscape for job employment has changed with the Internet economy and digital footprints. A digital footprint is the information about a person shown on the Internet from their online activity.
“In our Internet economy today, every company will be a technology company,” Ashfar said. “Fundamental core skills such as being able to write, to speak, and to be able to network are critical. Companies want to learn more about you and a piece of paper won’t do that. Your professional brand is your digital footprint. Use platforms to educate and motivate, not promote yourself.”
Ashfar believes that good manners and giving without expecting anything in return helps people to be more successful. He emphasized that in today’s age, success is dependent on how much people trust you and how you represent yourself shows your trustworthiness.
“A good social network can be the world’s largest community college and there are opportunities from simply posting what you know and learn,” Ashfar said.
Vala Ashfar’s talk is a good reminder for students, to be mindful that anything we put online is part of our digital footprint that creates our professional brand to employers.