Job Seekers: Guess Who’s Looking For You Online? | Career Rocketeer

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Job Seekers: Guess Who’s Looking For You Online? Posted: 02 Sep 2011 03:30 AM PDT Let's say you are a job seeker fresh out of college. In your university career, you've landed impressive internships, networked with tons of influential people, and have a GPA that could rival anyone's. However, because you never made it a priority, your social networking presence is not portraying you as a professional. After all, when many people are in college, they post their party photos on networks like Facebook, not industry related links or their work experience. So, even though you may have the most experience or a shining resume, you're not landing any jobs. Why? Maybe because 89% of recruiters are looking for you online. Surprised by the statistic? You shouldn't be. Since many of us live our lives online, it's a natural progression that employers will want a complete picture of a prospective employee. With this in mind, what can job seekers to do to ensure their online brands are positively portrayed online? Here are a few suggestions: Keep it PG. When you know someone influential is probably searching for you online, it makes sense to clean up your online image and keep it PG, right? Sure, mixing your personal and professional brands is completely fine, but try to not take it overboard. Think about creating a happy medium by promoting news about your industry, blogging about positive weekend experiences, and only posting appropriate photos and video that you won't regret later in life. Remember, the Internet is written in ink. Make sure employers don't perceive your brand as negative just because of what you posted years ago. Stand-out as an industry guru. If you were an employer, would you want a candidate who needed to be taught about the industry, or one that is highly knowledgeable based on their online presence? Probably the latter, right? It would not only save you money and time, you'd most likely feel better about them working on their own. Use your social networks and websites to stand-out as an industry thought leader. Ask questions on your networks that are based on recent issues, blog about the latest controversies and shake-ups, and actually show that you are informed. By standing out as someone who knows what they are talking about, an employer will probably be more prone to think positively of you. Connect with employers. Why wait for an employer to research you when you can be proactive and do it first? Follow the company on Twitter, engage in their Facebook page, ask to connect on LinkedIn if you already know anyone in the organization, etc. This will not only show you have an interest in the company, it will also make it easier for the employer to find you. Additionally, if you interact with the employer enough, your name will be remembered. Stand out and make an impact; you have nothing else to lose. If an employer was to search for you online, what would your platforms say about you? Guest Expert: James Alexander is Vizibility's founder and CEO. He's the guy with two first names. If you 'Googled' his name in 2009, you would never have found him. Now, he ranks within the first few results of a Google search. Find James in Google at vizibility.com/james.

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The 7 Top Mistakes Job Seeker’s Make Online

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• The 7 Top Mistakes Job Seeker’s Make Online
• The 5 Tenets of Career Enlightenment
• 10 Job Search Tips that Take Less than One Minute

The 7 Top Mistakes Job Seeker’s Make Online Posted: 01 Sep 2011 11:00 PM PDT It's not hard to stand out from the crowd. But, first you have to know the mistakes other job seekers make online and how to avoid them. To get this useful advice and many other helpful career resources, visit us now at CAREEREALISM.com.

The 5 Tenets of Career Enlightenment Posted: 01 Sep 2011 10:30 PM PDT Desperation can make us do strange things. If you've ever been laid off, you may recall those first few weeks of shock and disbelief. Then questions arise such as, "How am I going to pay my bills?" or, "What's going to happen to me?" The anxiety sets in. And it's at this point you're the most... To get this useful advice and many other helpful career resources, visit us now at CAREEREALISM.com.

10 Job Search Tips that Take Less than One Minute Posted: 01 Sep 2011 02:12 PM PDT I am curious if there are any job search tips that take less than one minute to execute. What quick action can I take as a job seeker? To get this useful advice and many other helpful career resources, visit us now at CAREEREALISM.com.

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The unforseen impact of online “friendships”

ResumeBear Blog

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The unforseen impact of online “friendships” Posted: 28 Jun 2011 05:51 AM PDT I was speaking for a group yesterday on the topic of "Overcoming Failure to Educate," and afterwards one of the audience members came up to me and shared a story that really drove home a point that I'm guessing many of us really don't think about: be careful who you "friend." Now, I'm sure most of us are conscious of certain types of people who may request online friendship and we accept/ignore them based on our own internal radar. But let me tell you this story and see if it doesn't impact your thinking a bit. It seems a teen was applying for a job as security guard for the local Port Authority.  He was a high school graduate, decent kid, kept himself out of trouble.  Apparently a good candidate by all reason. During the interview, he was asked by the recruiter if he had ever been incarcerated or if  any of his friends had been or were presently. The teen answered "no."  To his knowledge, none of his friends had ever run afoul of the law. The recruiter asked him again if he was SURE none of them had any criminal history or were currently doing time.  The teen answered again "No."  The recruiter then pulls out a copy of the teen's Facebook page, with two of his 900+ "friends" highlighted. Turns out they were both presently being held in jail for varying crimes.  The teen immediately responds that he has no idea who these people are…and you can see where this is going…the recruiter asks him "Then why are you listing them as 'friends' on your Facebook page?" He didn't get the job. Many of us have a wide following in social media because of what we do or causes we represent or "like."  Thee's a train of thought that says, "Go ahead and accept anyone who wants to be a friend, and if they become a problem later, you can always drop them." But the story above really makes you stop and think. You certainly can't "know" much about 5000 friends you may have in your social media circle. What if someone is doing a background check on you for a position or opportunity, and they find you have someone "problematic" in that circle?  You may be able to explain it away by saying you aren't responsible for the actions of people who "follow" you, but it almost sounds worse to say you are just indiscriminately accepting requests of anyone who wants to connect with you, even if that IS common practice today. I don't have a real ready solution or answer to this. For myself, I am careful whose friend requests I accept. I generally do check out their profiles, and there are people whose requests I have blocked, for varying reasons. I'm also more likely to feel comfortable accepting the request if they have included a personal message citing some reason why they think we should connect such as mutual friends, specific interests in common, or maybe a regional proximity. But, honestly, I don't know many of the people who ask for connections; some I do get to know better online. Some I've even had the pleasure of meeting later in person.  But, I can't "know" their complete history or what they do in their "offline" life. Yes, this is a risk we take even with in-person relationships. While we think we can judge people pretty well, the media is rife with stories of people who have been duped by others they believed they "knew." But the problem becomes compounded online both because of access and quantity, as well as the lack of opportunity to "get to know one another" with all five senses engaged. And, it almost goes without saying that our children are particularly vulnerable in this area as our story shows. Collecting friends is both a fun pastime as well as, sadly, a sign of popularity. The friends you are picking — or that are picking you — may have an unforseen impact on your life, both short- and longer-term.  We counsel our kids to be careful who you pick as your friends…but most of us don't really think about the friends they are accepting online. I would love your input on how you handle this issue, both for yourself and for your kids, if you have them. As I said, there's probably no "one perfect answer," but I'm sure many of you have strategies that are both safe and not too-restrictive. We do want to widen our networks, but it should be to ours — and our friends' — mutual benefit, not to our detriment. We have to be both socially smart and savvy to make the right decisions. About Corinne Gregory The 'Civil' Warrior & School Crusader I'm an author, speaker, award-winning educator focused on social skills, character and values development for children, educators, and professionals. As the President and Founder of SocialSmarts, a nationally-recognized, schools-based program for building positive social skills,  I'm very passionate about improving the education system for every child, every teacher, every family.  While it may seem like a big job — changing our education system — it's a necessary one, and one we can do, if we work together and insist on it. My experience and message about the power of social skills and positive character have been featured on such leading media as The Today Show, CNN, Good Morning America, Time Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, The Washington Post and many more. For more on SocialSmarts and how we are transforming education, click here. To book me as a speaker for your students, education staff or business, email triciam@socialsmarts.com for info and schedule. You can also learn more about my presentations, view testimonials and videos at www.corinnegregory.com

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