• Table Of Contents

• Introduction
• How Employers Evaluate Online Reputations
• Tips to Help Improve Your Online Reputation
• Resources
• References

Introduction

on-line rep-u-ta-tion [on-lahyn rep-yuh-tey-shuh n]

- noun

1. an individual’s web identity, or digital footprint, which is built and modified over time.

2. a powerful tool used by employers, educational institutions, banks, landlords, and other VIPs to define and gauge the success , failure, trustworthiness, reliability, moral soundness, etc. of a specific individual.

With the advent of the Internet, everything we say or do is practically etched in stone and, in many cases, available to the public. It is virtually impossible to maintain any sense of digital privacy and control over how others see you unless you take an active role in managing your online reputation.

We will take a closer look at how online reputations can affect an individual’s chances of landing their dream job or starting a business, and why taking steps to manage your online reputation is more important than ever before.

How Employers Evaluate Online Reputations

Employers are quickly catching on to the social media trend. According to workforce services provider, Manpower Inc., approximately 70% of human resource and business professionals currently utilize social networking sites in the hiring and job hunting process. Sixty percent of those surveyed use Facebook, while 34% use the professional networking site LinkedIn. [1] Translation? Employers are most certainly screening potential job candidates online, a vastly different procedure than in years past, making online reputation management an essential component of achieving success.

According to a 2009 study conducted by Harris Interactive, hired by Career Builder.com, 45% of the 2,667 Human Resources professionals surveyed admitted to using social networking sites to research perspective employees, and 11% planned on implementing social media screening in the very near future. [2]

“This type of screening is clearly on the rise,” said Megan Anderson, employment attorney at Gray Plant Mooty. “But there is very little legal guidance and people don’t know the landscape.” [3]

North American staffing agency The Creative Group surveyed advertising and marketing executives about how they evaluate job candidates and discovered that they examine a fairly wide range of online sources. According to the survey, 72% of the executives admitted to performing simple name searches of potential hires online, 59% look for a LinkedIn presence, and 44% search Facebook for profile pages. Moreover, 35% of the executives search blog postings that mention the candidates by name, and 23% will look for personal Twitter accounts. [4] These results prove that individuals must keep a watchful eye on all areas of the web and closely and regularly monitor their digital footprint.

In December of 2009, Microsoft released statistics from a survey they commissioned which topped those numbers, stating that 79% of hiring managers and job recruiters in the United States reviewed information found online about job applicants, while 70% of those surveyed said they’ve rejected applicants based on their findings. [5]

So, what types of sites are HR professionals and job recruiters using for their research? Here’s a breakdown of what Microsoft learned:

• Search engines 78%
• Social networking sites 63%
• Photo and video sharing sites 59%
• Professional and business networking sites 57%
• Personal Web sites 48%
• Blogs 46%
• News sharing sites (e.g. Twitter) 41%
• Online forums and communities 34%
• Virtual world sites 32%
• Web sites that aggregate personal information 32%
• Online gaming sites 27%
• Professional background checking services 27%
• Classifieds and auction sites 25%
• None of these 2% [6]

Additionally, Microsoft asked American HR professionals what type of online information would make them reject a candidate for a position. Perhaps surprising to some is the mention of inappropriate comments written by the candidates’ friends or family members. Here’s a full breakdown of exactly what types of content they considered during the decision making process:

• Concern about the candidate’s lifestyle 58%
• Inappropriate comments and text written by the candidate 56%
• Unsuitable photos, videos, and information 55%
• Inappropriate comments or text written by friends and relatives 43%
• Comments criticizing previous employers, co-workers, or clients 40%
• Inappropriate comments or text written by colleagues or work acquaintances 40%
• Membership in certain groups and networks 35%
• Discovery that information the candidate shared was false 30%
• Poor communication skills displayed online 27%
• Concern about the candidate’s financial background 16% [7]

Individuals who are currently employed aren’t off the hook either. This year, The Huffington Post published 13 stories about people who were reprimanded or fired over something they said or did on Facebook. Examples included several Virgin Atlantic crew members who received disciplinary action after criticizing the airline’s safety standards on the social network, and a South Carolina paramedic and firefighter who was fired after posting a derogatory video featuring two cartoon characters at a hospital. [8] Employees have also been fired based on their Twitter activity. A Beverly Hills waiter tweeted about actress Jane Adams skipping out on a restaurant check and was promptly fired. Similarly, a St. Louis non-profit organization discovered via Twitter that one of their female employees kept a secret sex blog and although she used a fake name and kept it separated from her day job, they sent her packing. [9]

Tips to Help Improve Your Online Reputation

“Social media has made our lives very transparent,” says Joe Laratro, president of Tandem Interactive. “If you maintain a professional persona, this can be something positive, but if you’re unaware of comments or pictures online that that you wouldn’t even want your mother to see, it can be terrible.” [10] With that in mind, here are some tips to help improve your online reputation:

1. Maintain Privacy. Check your privacy settings on all your social networking accounts to make sure your personal information is kept private. This includes accounts on Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, LinkedIn, and any other social networking site you may use. Take advantage of Facebook’s privacy setting to keep photos and videos that others post of you off basic Web searches. [11]
2. Avoid oversharing. Steer clear of saying anything that you wouldn’t normally share with a prospective employer. Experts say it’s a good idea to refrain from talking about politics or religion at work, and the same holds true for social networking sites. Any strong thoughts that lean one way over another could potentially rub somebody the wrong way and cloud your online reputation. Also, be mindful of joining what could be considered politically incorrect groups.
3. Stop your complaining. Avoid posting anything negative about your current or previous jobs, employers, coworkers, etc. Similarly, don’t update your Facebook status only when you have something negative or sarcastic to say. Nobody wants to hire “Negative Nancy” or “Donald Downer.” Find a balance so your digital personal doesn’t look too bitter or angry.
4. Know Who Your Friends Are. As we already learned in the Microsoft survey, employers are keeping tabs on what your friends and relatives say about you. Pay close attention to who you are linked to online and what they are saying. Consider deleting anybody who says or does inappropriate things online to avoid looking guilty by association.
5. Stop sharing unsuitable content. Posting inappropriate media to any photo or video sharing website like YouTube could destroy your online reputation. Even if you use a different username on these sites, there are ways people can track them back to your email address, so your best bet is to avoid posting questionable content altogether. Similarly, don’t share inappropriate content with your friends because you can’t control what they will do with it.
6. Don’t drink and then post or tweet. Posting inappropriate comments or photographs while under the influence may cast a negative reflection on your online persona. Also, avoid posting content that proves you have broken your employer’s social media policy or hiring agreement. In addition, avoid updating your status after you’ve called in sick (sites like Facebook maintain digital time stamps for every member).
7. Separate social networking from job networking. It’s easy to fall into the Facebook job hunting trap, but keeping social networking and job networking separate will help you avoid blurring the lines. Build up your prospective job contact list on professional networking sites like LinkedIn instead.
8. Be consistent. Make sure your professional and educational background information on your social networking profile matches the information on your resume, or you could be caught lying.
9. Google yourself. Research suggests that this is the first thing a potential employer will do if they want to find information about you online, so it’s a good idea to be a step ahead of them. A quick online search will garner some (note: not all) of the information about you that is publically available. The faster you take care of questionable content, the better.
10. Generate positive content. Experts agree that the best way to counteract negative content is by creating positive information that will rank high on search engines like Google. Sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube all rank high in Google searches if you update them at least once a month. [10]
11. Use Google/Profiles. The search engine’s latest tool allows users to literally control what people see about them by creating their own personal profiles. Visit Google Profiles for more information.
12. Use Google Alerts and TweetBeep. These are free tools that will email you when someone mentions your name, company or product, even if they’re using a shortened URL. [10]

Resources

myID is an invaluable Internet monitoring tool and Facebook monitoring application for individuals to help manage online reputations. For $10 a month, the service scours websites and search engines daily to find any and all public information about you, making it a convenient online reputation management solution. If any inappropriate photos, videos, or content postings become public – you are immediately notified via a digital alert and email or text message that clearly indicates the reason for concern. Additionally, myID helps subscribers remove unwanted online content by offering step-by-step guidance.

Other helpful resources:

Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA)
Privacy.org
Privacy Rights Clearinghouse

References

1. Schertz, Alysha. (2010, November 26). “Employers beware: Social media is changing the hiring process”. BizTimes.com. Retrieved November 28, 2010.
2. Van Grove, Jennifer. (2009, August 19). “45% of Employers Now Screen Social Media Profiles”. Mashable.com. Retrieved on November 22, 2010.
3. Phelps, David. (2010, February 7). “HR and Facebook: It’s complicated”. Star Tribune. Retrieved on November 22, 2010.
4. Krumrie, Matt.  (2010, November 9). “Ask Matt: The Job Search-Managing your Online Presence”. Star Tribune. Retrieved December 12, 2010.
5. Goldberg, Stephanie. (2010, March 29). “Young job-seekers hiding their Facebook pages”. CNN.com. Retrieved on November 22, 2010.
6. Balderrama, Anthony. (2010, May 6). “Are you paying attention to your online reputation? Employers are”. The Work Buzz.com. Retrieved on November 20, 2010.
7. “Online Reputation in a Connected World”. Retrieved on December 12, 2010 from http://www.microsoft.com/privacy/dpd/research.aspx.
8. Kanalley, Craig and Smith, Catherine. (2010, July 26). “Fired over Facebook: 13 Posts That Got People CANNED”. The Huffington Post. Retrieved November 22, 2010.
9. Bosker, Bianca and Smith, Catharine. (2010, July 14). “Fired Over Twitter: 13 Tweets That Got People CANNED”. The Huffington Post. Retrieved on November 22, 2010.
10. Burnham, Kristin. (2010, January 28). “How to Protect Your Reputation Online”. CIO.com. Retrieved on December 12, 2010.
11. Liu, Alec. (2010, October 24). “5 Ways to Stay Safe on Facebook”. FoxNews.com. Retrieved on November 20, 2010.