Hey, you should Friend me.
Most of you who are reading this probably know what I am talking about. With the advent and popularity of Face Book, Twitter, LinkedIn and a myriad of other online communities, online networking has become a way of life. It allows us to connect with long lost loves, forgotten relatives, friends at work, college roommates and your future boss. As society continues to strive to become an online community, employers are becoming savvier and are resorting to social networking tools, not only for recruiting, but to check you out. Employers not only read your resume with a fine tooth comb, conduct extensive testing, and run background checks, but they also google you to find out exactly who they may potentially be hiring.
Microsoft recently commissioned a study to examine the impact your online reputation has on hiring and what consumers are doing to manage it. The study was conducted in Germany, France, the UK and the USA from December 10, 2009 through December 23, 2009.
Microsoft states: "An online reputation is the publicly held social evaluation of a person based on his or her behavior, what he or she posts, and what others (such as individuals, groups, and Web services) share about the person on the Internet." Most job seekers underestimate the impact their online reputation has on their job search. Less than 15% of those polled don't think their online information impacts their job opportunities, while 70% of hiring managers consider an applicant's online reputation, when hiring a new employee. In fact, 75% of the professionals polled claim to have formal workplace policies requiring an internet search of potential employees!
Employers want to know who you are after the suit comes off and the jeans go on. They are not only looking for what's been posted online by you, but also what's been posted about you, or to you. Your value is now not only determined by your actions and/or words but also any comment posted by your "friends" connected to you that a future employer is able to view. Nearly half of the hiring professionals polled in America did not hire a candidate based on inappropriate comments written by friends.
So what are some steps you can take to manage your online reputation? We're not recommending that you deny yourself an online social existence to keep us all informed of your "status updates," rather, we suggest taking another approach in representing yourself as a future employee. Use your privacy settings; keep your profile picture clean and appropriate; create separate profiles: a "professional" one with only work-appropriate pictures and comments that is search-able (and viewable) and a "private" one that only people you approve can see. Remember your friends are not the only ones who are reading what you put on the web.
To read the full study click here.
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