What simple steps can you take to give yourself a job search “brand”, or a recognizable online persona? The easy moves below will make employers feel like they’ve known you for years just a few minutes after typing your name into a search engine.
Google yourself on a regular basis during your job search, and as you do so, think like an employer. Fearlessly track down anything that might call your reputation into question, and if you find something damaging, contact the webmaster and ask to have the content removed or altered. This may not work, but it’s worth a try.
If a google search of your name takes employers to private photos you’ve posted on Facebook, something’s wrong. Head to your Facebook profile and start re-checking and tightening up your privacy settings. While you’re at it, clean up your visible tweets and the sketchy online photos of you that are visible through weak settings on the accounts of your friends and family. This clean up task may take a while, but the result will be worth your efforts.
If you were a business instead of a person, this might be a great time to hire a content marketing firm, an outside company with the ability to build and strengthen your online reputation on your behalf. But since you may not be able to afford such a service, you can get busy and start doing the job yourself.
Create a website and launch a blog if you haven’t done so already. And at least once a week, generate a polished professional post on a relevant topic. You can also post tweets, re-tweets, and intelligent comments on industry-related blog posts and articles written by others. All these efforts will collectively present you as an engaged, passionate, well-informed person, or a “thought leader” in your industry.
Most important, recognize that nothing you do or say online will ever be truly private. Starting now, think twice before you post a single photo, comment, link, or witty remark on any publically visible site. Stay conscious and recognize that online—as in real life—everything you do creates an impression. Your actions and words all have consequences, whether you recognize them or not.
If you are looking for recruiters in Alexandria, contact our team today.