Before You Find a Job, Fix Your Digital Life

The cost of hiring and training employees is high enough that employers want to make sure that you're a good fit even before they bring you in for an interview. While they can get a lot of information about your from your resume, cover letter, and job application, they also realize those forms only reveal what you want to show them. If they want to know the real you, they start searching for your online tracks.
So before you begin the job hunt, clean up your digital life by following these guidelines.

• Check out your Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and other social pages for messages and photos that present you in a less-than-professional light. Delete these postings. Do not simply set them to viewing by friends only because as part of their investigations, potential employers will ask you to friend them.
• Use Google Search to see if your name is mentioned on any third-party websites. Don't forget to specify the Images, Videos, Blogs, and News options. If you find anything incriminating, politely ask the website owner to take it down. If they refuse to comply, there's not much you can do about it but come up with good explanations of why they exist.
• Set up Google Alerts to inform you by email every time your name is mentioned on the Internet. You will then always know when something new about you appears.
• Examine any resumes or job descriptions that you've posted online and make sure that all the details match especially with company names, dates of employment, contact information, job descriptions, and compensation. If potential employers find any discrepancies they may assume that you are either careless with detail or are attempting to deceive.
  

If you want more information on how to find a job, please contact us.