Why aren't Malaysians investing more on personal branding?

LinkedIn has released a new study, Your Story @Work, which reveals that although a majority of Malaysian recruiters feel it is important to communicate career achievements online, only as low as 35% of working professionals do so.Compared to other leading markets such as India (62%) and the United States (54%), only 35% of Malaysians are likely to share their achievements or job successes online, said the study. Moreover, Malaysian professionals' profiles are the least updated in the world, closely followed by Hong Kong and Singapore. This is found through the result of 36% of Malaysians saying their experience does not line up with their online profiles.(Read also: Personal branding in tough times and The Futurist: Promote the most important brand of all, your own)Reasons attributed for this phenomenon is the increasing complexity of job scopes, which explains why Malaysian professionals find it difficult to describe what they do. As many as half of Malaysians admitted to this in the LinkedIn survey. With 70% of Malaysian recruitment decision makers taking LinkedIn profiles into the consideration before hiring, the study states that this phenomenon is particularly worrying.According to LinkedIn, here are the top five actions for professionals to increase their chances of landing a dream job:Be a hero of your own story: Help your readers visualise who you are by adding a profile photo. Members with profile photos receive up to 21 times more views.   Complete your profile: More than half (58%) of Malaysian recruitment decision makers said that an empty or sparse LinkedIn profile makes them less likely to consider a candidate.Invest time in creating your online persona: 9 out of 10 Malaysian recruitment decision makers feel it’s important to get a sense of what type of person the candidate is, and the skills they possess than a list of past experience.Write a strong summary that draws people in: More than two-thirds of Malaysian recruitment decision makers will opt for creative summary rather than looking at the listed jobs.Treat your career as a never ending story: Strong, regularly updated profile can help you explore variety of professional opportunities including finding jobs, mentors to volunteering and new business.“A strong, creative and regularly updated profile can provide Malaysian professionals a better chance of landing their dream jobs. As you’re the owner of your own work story, it is important to showcase your achievements by adding compelling visuals such as pictures, videos and presentations. This can help keep your readers engaged and potentially land yourself a foot in door with your dream employers,” said Feon Ang, senior director of talent solutions, Asia Pacific and Japan, LinkedIn.The annual study explores generational, cultural and industry-specific changes in the workplace, with this year’s study focusing on attitudes towards sharing professional success and the how-to of landing the dream job. It was also conducted across 19 countries.