Dealing With Your Digital Dirt
What is Digital Dirt?
Digital Dirt refers to unfavorable videos, photos and other content created by you and/or about you that is posted to the Internet. Not only can it make you look immature and unprofessional, it can doom your job search before it gets started. Your trail of digital dirt might also include unflattering information that someone else has written or posted about you on the Internet, usually on social networking sites. The most popular social networking sites for Canadians include Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, MSN, Blogs and Twitter.
It didn’t take long for the corporate world to discover online social networking sites. Not only do businesses now promote themselves and their products on these sites, they use these sites as a hiring tool. More than 44% of HR recruiters have eliminated a potential candidate from further consideration because of something negative they found online through a search engine.
There is nothing worse than having unflattering information about you posted on the Web. Unfortunately, once it’s out there you can’t just sit back and hope it goes away. With hiring managers checking out prospective employees on the web before deciding who to interview or hire, job seekers need to manage their online reputations or find their resumes on the ‘do-not-call’ pile. The first thing you need to do is Google your name right now. You can even set up a ‘Google alert’ with your name so you can track all the new dirt when it first hits the Web.
Job seekers should spend as much time managing their online reputation as they do their face-to-face relationships with people. Much of the digital dirt companies find about a candidate online is a ‘self-inflicted wound’. Thoughtless postings to your Facebook page, complete with pictures of your latest ‘adventures’ will be noticed by an employer. Be sure you maintain your public profile with your job search in mind.
Tips to Keep Your Online Profile Positive:
1) Clean up your digital dirt
2) Update your profile regularly
3) Monitor comments made by others
4) Join groups selectively
Digital Dirt refers to unfavorable videos, photos and other content created by you and/or about you that is posted to the Internet. Not only can it make you look immature and unprofessional, it can doom your job search before it gets started. Your trail of digital dirt might also include unflattering information that someone else has written or posted about you on the Internet, usually on social networking sites. The most popular social networking sites for Canadians include Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, MSN, Blogs and Twitter.
It didn’t take long for the corporate world to discover online social networking sites. Not only do businesses now promote themselves and their products on these sites, they use these sites as a hiring tool. More than 44% of HR recruiters have eliminated a potential candidate from further consideration because of something negative they found online through a search engine.
There is nothing worse than having unflattering information about you posted on the Web. Unfortunately, once it’s out there you can’t just sit back and hope it goes away. With hiring managers checking out prospective employees on the web before deciding who to interview or hire, job seekers need to manage their online reputations or find their resumes on the ‘do-not-call’ pile. The first thing you need to do is Google your name right now. You can even set up a ‘Google alert’ with your name so you can track all the new dirt when it first hits the Web.
Job seekers should spend as much time managing their online reputation as they do their face-to-face relationships with people. Much of the digital dirt companies find about a candidate online is a ‘self-inflicted wound’. Thoughtless postings to your Facebook page, complete with pictures of your latest ‘adventures’ will be noticed by an employer. Be sure you maintain your public profile with your job search in mind.
Tips to Keep Your Online Profile Positive:
1) Clean up your digital dirt
2) Update your profile regularly
3) Monitor comments made by others
4) Join groups selectively
5) Use the highest security settings on each Social Site you use
6) Go private!
6) Go private!
