Protect Your Online Presence

The Irish job hunting scene has changed dramatically in the past decade. Companies and job seekers alike have moved away from traditional print advertising to the Internet and its many forms of social media. Social networks such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn are surging in popularity and all age groups are adopting these as tools to aide in the job search process. 

Social Networks are a great supplement to networking and job searching. Some advantages include;

• Job Searching Social networks give you the opportunity to build relationships with potential employers. By ‘following’ their Twitter/LinkedIn/Facebook page you will see job opportunities within the company as they arise.
• Easy to research companies The internet gives us access to vast amounts of information, meaning it is now easier than ever to research company backgrounds and the people working there. It is important to go to an interview knowing the background of the company of the people you may be working with.

Despite the advantages of social networking there are some downfalls, if the content on the web is deemed unprofessional. Recruiters and companies alike are increasingly checking a candidate’s online profile, and thanks to the amounts of information available online, they can conduct instant back-ground checks

Therefore our top tips for using social networks to your advantage include:

Perform a Google Audit

• Do a Google search and find out what the internet has to say about you, this will be a good indicator of how your online presence appears to potential employers.
• If there are any negative comments/images/posts that you can remove, do so.
• If there are items online that are negative, contact the website’s controller to try having them remove the content.
• Getting rid of negative material can be difficult. To combat it you should create more positive material, the more you create the further down Google rankings the negative material will be pushed

Protect your online profile

• Set your profiles to ‘private’ so they are only viewable to selected friends.
• Clean up your current online profile; make sure your profile pictures are respectable and remove any derogatory comments (if any).
• Realise that your online comments and discussions are not private, what you post will be around for a long time, and could be shared by others.
• Therefore don’t post anything that you wouldn’t want a prospective employer to see. A seemingly innocuous but snarky comment about your, work or a colleague could have long-term effects on your career, relationships or reputation.
• Check your profile regularly to make sure it is appropriate for an employer to see it. Censor all material/photos posted to your profile

Check Yourself

• Employ the ‘second set of eyes’ rule.
• Have someone look over your online profiles to insure your profile is appropriate.

Social Media and its link to job searching is here to stay. Candidates need to be prepared and use it to their advantage. Networking, job searching and information gathering are all just a click away and can be used to your advantage.