Five Ways to Manage Your Online Identity While You Are Job Hunting
Five Ways to Manage Your Online Identity While You Are Job Hunting
When employers search for your name online, what will they find? Will it be information that touts all of your wonderful attributes and accomplishments?
Or, will it be falsified or negative information that makes you look like a hiring risk?
If you were to go back in time to the 1980's, you would know that personal computers were hard to come by and that the Internet was in its infancy.
Nowadays, if you want to learn anything, and I mean anything - you simply search for that information online using one or more online search engines. However, on the other side of the coin - anyone can create a website, blog, or social media page (MySpace, Facebook, etc.) and post information about you which may tarnish your reputation. Heck, you may have even posted some "not-so-flattering" information or pictures about yourself!
And once that information is on the Internet, it may be visible for a very long time.
Today, job-seekers must be very wary of what kind of information is available on the Internet about them, how to carefully manage that information, and how to create an online identity that presents them in a positive manner.
Because chances are, prospective employers will do an online search for your name and if he/she finds negative information (even if it isn't true), there is a very good possibility that you won't get called for an interview.
Now, I could probably write a short book about how to manage your online identity, but I am going to give you five steps that you can implement today to minimize any negative or false information about you, while maximizing positive information about you online.
Step 1: "Find Yourself" Online...And Do It Regularly!
Before you begin a job search, you should check out what has been said about you online. The easiest way to do this is to type your name into any of the popular online search engines and see what comes up.
Some of these search engines include: Google, Yahoo!, and MSN Search. There are many more, but these happen to be some of the most popular ones that are used by a lot of people.
Step 2: Address Any Negative Information You Find
If you conducted a search of your name and you found nothing false or negative - Congratulations!
Now if you found information posted about you that is blatantly false, or consists of unflattering pictures - I recommend that you contact the source of that false data and resolve the situation as quickly as possible by having them remove such information.
Many times, people will come across false or negative information about someone who has the same first and last name as them. In this case, I recommend you use a different version of your name or also use a middle initial on your resume and cover letter.
In the case of someone posting information about you that IS true but negative - there may not be much you can do legally to have that information removed.
But, what you can do is create positive content about yourself and update it regularly - which I discuss in Step 4.
Step 3: Locate Any Information You Have Posted Online Yourself
Now this may sound obvious, but have you posted anything online about yourself that may sabotage your online identity? This information can be profile information, pictures, videos, and blogs.
Let's look at a few of these examples in detail...
First, there are social networking sites (MySpace, Facebook, LinkedIn) that may contain personal information, pictures, videos, and blogs that you personally post.
Next, there are online dating sites (Match, eHarmony, Plentyoffish) that contain profile information and pictures.
And finally, there's Flickr (a picture site) and YouTube (a video site) which may contain unflattering pictures and videos of you for the world to see.
Now if you have any information that may tarnish your reputation, it would be wise to eliminate such content or at the very least - set your profile pages to private.
Step 4: Control The Message and Content Of Information
If you have found some negative information about you online, and it does happen to be true - your best bet is to create positive information about yourself that will show higher in search engine rankings because people will generally only look at the Top 10 postings.
For starters, one way to do this is to "clean up" your profiles on your social networking pages (MySpace, Facebook, LinkedIn). Sites with newly posted, "fresh content" rise to higher spots in search engines.
Another way to move those negative postings further down the charts is to do great things at your company or in the community that get written about in the newspaper or in industry journal or magazine.
Because newspapers, journals, and magazines now have online distributions, the stories with you in them get posted...thus improving your online image!
And finally, if you find it difficult to be recognized for good deeds within your company or community - then write a short article for publication in a magazine or journal, or craft a letter to the editor for publication in your local newspaper that has online distribution.
Doing any of these will fill up those Top 10 postings with positive or neutral information about you.
And that's exactly what you want to do when managing your online identity. You want to control as much information as you can that people will be able to access online...
Step 5: Be Conscious Of Your Online Interactions With Others
This last step isn't one for managing your online identity per se, but rather a step to "keep you out of hot water."
It is important to know that all interactions online such as emails, instant messages, postings in forums, and responses to blogs can be traced back to you! If this information can be viewed by an employer as controversial or less than favorable, it could come back to haunt you at a later time in your career.
I recommend that if you want to take all the necessary steps in successfully managing your online identity, you should also take care in not typing anything online that you would not have printed on your shirt for everyone to read who come in contact with you.
Remember, the Internet can be used as a tool to help you - or it can be used as a weapon against you. How you choose to manage your online identity will determine which of the two it will be.
Known
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