Four years and 120 credit hours later, you stride across a stage,
shake hands with your dean and hold the paper proving that after writing
thousands of words and struggling through hundreds of tests, you are a
degree-carrying graduate. You trade shiny graduation robes for
wrinkle-free work wear and distribute finely constructed copies of your
resume like Halloween candy, sure that you’ll transition from the
classroom to the workforce successfully.
After all, you’re qualified; what more could a potential employer ask
for? How could a couple expletive-sprinkled blog posts or a few
beer-guzzling Facebook photos dampen your career prospects?
Like it or not, the Herculean effort you put into academics may be
slain by what you post on the Internet. According to Patrick Ambron,
chief marketing officer for Brand-Yourself, a Syracuse business helping
customers create positive images online, 75 percent of human resource
departments are required to sleuth for information on candidates online
before hiring them.
Candidates with a positive online presence—like squeaky-clean
Facebook pages or business-oriented tweets—boost their chances of
getting a position. As for the candidates who use Twitter as a diary or
appear to be advertising for Keystone through their Facebook
pictures—well, let’s just say they’ll suffer through a bit more trouble
in their quest to pick up a paycheck.
Patrick Ambron of Brand-Yourself: “Understand that the web and everything you post is now your first impression.”
Gary Morris checks Facebook. As associate director of The Point at
SUNY Oswego, it is part of his job—at least, it is when it comes to
hiring student workers. The Point encourages students to explore life
beyond their Oswego campus. When assessing potential candidates, Morris
says he always checks student profiles to search for flags, like
students who talk about their interview with him or post questionable
photographs. For him, flags don’t necessarily eliminate the candidate’s
chances. “I don’t put a lot of stock in it, but it all adds to my
opinion of them,” he explains.
Christine Richardson, director of career services at Cazenovia
College, emphasizes how important it is to project one’s Internet image
practically. “You always have to be checking what you put online,” she
says. For example, Richardson says if an employer checks out a
candidate’s website and is immediately greeted by an f-bomb, the
employer wouldn’t be impressed, to say the least.
Mind-boggling though the many ways to screw up your image on the
Internet may be, Ambron slimmed the electronic actions to avoid down to
one: “The basic rule of thumb is anything you wouldn’t say in an
interview—anything you wouldn’t want representing you,” he says. “Just
understand that the web and everything you post is now your first
impression.”
In other words, don’t gossip and don’t post pictures documenting a
night of heavy inebriation. “It doesn’t leave a good taste in a new
employer’s mouth,” Ambron explains. As for implementing Facebook’s
privacy settings, thinking that will eliminate the problem, Ambron
encourages caution. “You want to realize that private doesn’t mean
impenetrable,” he says.
Although the thought of employers using Google to find your Internet
footprint is a bit nauseating, Ambron, and Brand-Yourself, see
potential. “The opportunity is that if they’re researching you, you can
brand yourself,” he says. “The easiest way to do that on the widest
scale is on the web.”
Morris agrees. “Everyone has an online brand,” the adviser states. “It’s all a matter of managing your brand.”
Although Oswego hosts workshops discussing the power of social
networking and Brand-Yourself is in the business of constructing
attractive web images for their clients, Ambron offers six tips to help
students ensure their Internet image isn’t a career killer.
To begin the self-branding process, Ambron points to Google. Search
yourself to see what comes up about you—if anything—and see if anyone
else sharing your name makes it to the top of the search engine’s
surface. Do some spring cleaning on your Facebook page to ensure curse
words and drunken photos aren’t littering your profile. Then, build an
Internet hub to serve as a road map to lead employers to your blog,
Facebook and Twitter account, along with any additional sites you’d like
interested parties to visit.
Ambron emphasizes the importance of owning and sculpting your own
website, suggesting that students buy a domain name at a place like
www.godaddy.com for less than $15 for a year. To keep in touch with the
latest trends in their desired career industry, Ambron encourages
students to build an RSS feed—a rich site summary—that delivers
pertinent web content to students in one digital package. As long as the
thought of blogging doesn’t make you tired, Ambrose suggests blogging
at least once every two weeks. “Again, it fuels search engines,” he
adds.
Lastly, while on the hunt for a job, Ambrose says students should do
more than submit a resume and request a job. “You should use Twitter to
interact with industry leaders,” he notes, adding that students should
comment on employers’ posts to showcase their interest. “Suddenly, they
know who you are.”
Additionally, it’s important to use a single, professional
photograph. “That’s branding your face, letting people know who you
are,” he states. “The most important thing is consistency.” For more
tips on creating your own brand, Ambrose instructs interested parties to
visit www.brand-yourself.com or e-mail info@brand-yourself.com.
So seriously, people—keep your clothes on, zip your people-zinging
lips, refrain from brandishing the one-finger salute and keep pictures
capturing your status as keg-stand champion folded fondly in the
archives of your computer’s hard drive. Your pride—and your soon-to-be
debt-riddled pockets—will thank you.
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