The Definitive Guide to Managing Your Online Reputation
Posted on Thursday, February 2nd, 2017
So you’re working hard and applying to lots of placement opportunities for the summer. You’re organized and have a game plan for finding the perfect job. Your resume is awesome and your cover letter is perfect. But you’re not getting any calls for interviews. What’s going on?
It could be that there’s something sketchy about you online.
No one wants to think that potential employers are Googling people before calling for job interviews, but upwards of 80% of them absolutely are. If you’re just starting out in the professional world and you haven’t cleaned up your social media presence yet, there might be something in your online presence that’s throwing them off.
So take these steps to clean up and manage your online reputation to make yourself extra hireable online.
Google Yourself
You probably did this in high school, and giggled over the silly results that showed up (we all did). But Googling yourself is the first step to managing your online reputation.
Google your full name and see what comes up. Anything incriminatory? Try your name plus your city. Your name plus your middle name. Your name plus your high school. Think of any keywords an employer might find on your resume and use to find you.
This is a good way of identifying problems with your online presence. If your personal Tumblr or that angsty blog post from when you were 14 shows up, it may be time to do some cleaning.
It’s also a good way to know what positives things about you show up. If you’ve built a fantastic LinkedIn profile, you want that result in the top 5 Google results. If you have a super-common name and you’re not showing up at all in your results, that’s another thing to address.
Make a list of places you need to fix, and start cleaning.
Yes, Facebook gets a whole section all to itself.
We know you love Facebook. Everyone loves Facebook. And we know that you probably aren’t thinking about your professional reputation when you’re on Facebook. And we for sure know that you weren’t thinking about your professional reputation when you were fifteen years old. And when you were fifteen years old (or eighteen, or twenty, twenty-five), you definitely posted something seriously embarrassing (and maybe even inappropriate/questionable/illegal). You need to delete that stuff immediately.
Because while you may not be thinking about work when you’re scrolling through your newsfeed, your potential employer sure is.
It can be a time-consuming and annoying process to clean up your Facebook, but it is worth it. Keep in mind that untagging yourself from photos doesn’t delete them so if a picture is really bad, ask the original poster to delete it. Go back all the way to when you first got Facebook and get rid of anything you wouldn’t want to talk about in the breakroom at work.
Don’t forget to check statuses, groups you’re a part of, and comments others leave on your posts (because yes, employers are even looking at that—43% of employers said in a survey that they would not hire someone based on inappropriate comments left on their social media).
Also double-check your Facebook privacy settings and switch everything to private—but never assume that that means you actually are private. Anything posted on Facebook can be screencapped, so be careful.
Twitter, Tumblr, blogs, etc.
Now give the same treatment to all your online presences. Remember, if you’ve posted something you wouldn’t be willing to talk about in a job interview, it shouldn’t be online. Delete, delete, delete, and start building yourself a professional, respectable online persona.
Take Control
So you’ve changed your Facebook settings and cleaned up your public profiles—now it’s time to take control. You want to be the one in charge of what shows up when people search your name. That means you need to know when your name comes up, and what to do to make sure that potential employers are only seeing what you want them to see. Here’s how to do it:
Step 1: Google Alerts
Head on over to Google Alerts. You’re going to create an alert for your name, which means that if someone posts something about you anywhere on the internet, you’ll get an email. Creepy/helpful. Go ahead and set up alerts for any nicknames you have, too. It doesn’t hurt to be too careful.
Step 2: Buy a Domain Name
This may seem a bit extreme, but depending on your field it may be smart to buy your own domain name. You don’t need to build a fancy website, but a professional landing page with your resume, portfolio, and contact information is a great way to lead potential employers right where you want them. When they Google you and your professional website pops up, you’re definitely getting bonus points.
Buying a domain name is pretty affordable, and there are lots of platforms for building simple landing pages. Check out about.me, wix.com, or Squarespace for inspiration.
Step 3: Get LinkedIn
Honestly, if you’re in any sort of professional field, you should have a LinkedIn. LinkedIn provides an online home for your resume and experience, and should be one of the top results when your name gets Googled.
You can read about setting up a successful LinkedIn profile here.
Don’t disappear!
The thought of cleaning up your online presence may be overwhelming, and you might be considering deleting every social media account you have and disappearing. While this is tempting, please don’t do it.
The hard truth is that employers find it suspicious when you have no internet presence. It either means that you don’t engage—which is weird, these days—or you have something to hide.
Employers are looking for evidence in your online presence that you’re engaged in the industry. Following industry leaders, writing posts about your subject of study, and sharing relevant experiences all look excellent to potential employers.
Your safest bet to looking hireable online is to tidy up the information that is out there, and make your public profiles nice and professional. That way, when employers Google you, you’ll shine.
Interested in participating in the co-op program at Algonquin College? Visit our website at https://www.algonquincollege.com/coop/, connect with us at coop@algonquincollege.com or call us at 613-727-4723 Ext.7623.
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