Managing Your Online Profile

In the simplest terms, an online profile is your public face, your online reputation. Although everyone should be aware of what their online profile conveys, as a job seeker it should be of particular importance.

There is ample data supporting the claim that most companies use information they find online to screen job candidates. The type of online information being scrutinized by human resource managers, recruiters, and hiring managers includes the following:

Comments, photos, and videos you post on social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace
What you’re doing and saying on blogs, consumer sites, etc.
Comments, photos, and videos others post about you
Groups and networks you’re connected to
Your communication skills
What others in your network are doing and saying

The good news is there are plenty of things you can do to monitor and manage your online profile. The tips below will get you started; however, it is worth your time to research the plentiful information that is available on this topic.

Enter your name into a search engine, like Google, and check out the search results.
Set up a Google Alert for your name. Google will automatically alert you, via email, anytime new content put on the Internet matches your name.
Create a professional profile on LinkedIn, the largest online professional networking site.
Build a Google profile optimized to display at the top of search results.
Register your name as a domain name (e.g. tedjones.com). For a small annual fee, you can create your own unique space and address on the Internet. This domain name can be used to build your website, post a resume, start a blog, etc.
Research privacy setting options on social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace—anywhere you have a profile.
Clean up your online profile. Remove comments, photos, or videos that may not be appropriate or could be misconstrued.
Remove inappropriate posts on your social media profile pages that friends or others have made.
Request that family and friends be cognizant and careful about what they are posting that relates to you.