According to a 2009 Execunet survey, 86% of recruiters surveyed do a "Google" search on candidates and reject 44% of candidates based on what they find out about them online. So doesn't it make sense to take control of your online identity and manage your electronic footprint? Here are five questions that every person interested in managing their career should ask themselves.
- Do I exist online?
- Is my identity possibly being confused with others who have the same name?
- Is the information about me online relevant to my professional identity and is it accurate?
- Is there anything damaging about me online that a hiring manager could uncover?
- Am I being diligent about monitoring the information displayed on my social media profiles and have I optimized my privacy settings when appropriate?
Take a few minutes to perform an online identity checkup by putting your name in quotes into a major search engine. If your online presence is next to nothing, confusing, irrelevant, or detrimental to your career, consider branding or re-branding yourself using tools such as LinkedIn, ZoomInfo, and Google Profiles to improve your career brand and better represent your unique value proposition.
Barbara Safani is the owner of Career Solvers, www.careersolvers.com, and author of Happy About My Resume: 50 Tips For Building a Better Document to Secure a Brighter Future and #JOBSEARCHtweet.
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