What is the Internet telling Employers about You

by Joe Mayne

Given the sheer numbers of students and graduates turning to the Internet for their job search these days, I’m always surprised at how many of them fail to understand that the door swings both ways. They know it pays to check out the postings on sites like Monster.com or Careerbuilder.com, and research salaries and benefits on the web, but never realize that employers are heading online to find out about the young men and women that apply to work for them. Make no mistake: recruiters are going to look for information about you online, and what they find can make the difference between being hired or not. To help today’s job seekers understand this – and tilt the field to their advantage – I’d like to offer a handful of tips for improving your Internet presence.

Get with the times

Hiring a new employee costs a business five times or more that person’s annual salary. In these tough economic times, no one can afford to take that kind of gamble without doing their homework first, so you can be sure that recruiters and hiring managers are going to be looking for information about you – usually right before or after your first interview. Realize that the question isn’t whether or not you’ll be researched, but how deeply.

GOOGLE yourself

Enter your name into the major search engines and see what comes up. If you don’t get anything, or if the results refer to other people with the same name as you, try nicknames and other related keywords (like your high school, college, hobbies, etc.) Make a note of each page that comes up, because put together, they form a picture to prospective employers that is more powerful than anything you can list on your resume. Don’t just search on your own, either. Enlist the help of friends, relatives, professors, or even professional contacts to get a sense of your online profile. Because they might think to use different sites or search terms than you would, they can sometimes uncover things you wouldn’t.

Think like an Employer

I always advise students to think "worst case" when they find information about themselves online, because prospective employers are probably going to. Most hiring managers are extremely cautious; they don’t want to make the mistake of bringing in someone who will embarrass the company. Do you come across as someone they’d feel comfortable having in their office, or sending on a business trip? If they find a picture, article, or blog post that sends up a red flag, you might not ever get a chance to change that impression.

Play Defense

Luckily, having negative information, photos, or blog posts about you removed from a website isn’t usually that difficult. All it takes is a quick email to the owner or webmaster. Start early, though. Because old pages are often archived and linked, it can take several months – or longer – for the items to go away completely. If there’s something written or shown about you on the Internet that you wish wasn’t, start with the worst items and start requesting that they be deleted. Keep going until you can’t find any trace of them.

Get Proactive

Besides having negative information about you removed, another good way to use the Internet as a tool in your job search is to promote yourself as an up-and-coming professional. Take advantage of blogs, online articles, and social networking sites by posting articles and pictures about yourself that tell employers you’re a sure bet. It might take a bit of time, but it can help create the impression that you’re head and shoulders above your peers. It’s a reality that nearly every major employer, and even most of the smaller ones, is going to take the time to research job candidates online. With that in mind, what’s written and shown about you on the Internet is as important as your resume and interview. Make sure that your online persona is as fantastic as your real-life self, and you’ll be well on the way to getting hired.

Joe Mayne is a veteran recruiter and professional speaker. Over the past 15 years, he’s interviewed thousands of candidates, examined countless resumes, and helped students from hundreds of campuses around North America find great jobs after graduation. You can see more about him and his work at www.MayneSpeaker.com.