Ego Surfing Why You Need To Check Your Online Profile (Before Your Employer Does)

Ego Surfing: Why You Need to Check Your Online Profile (Before Your Employer Does) “Do you surf?” I requested a room filled with job seekers throughout a current presentation on the facility of popularity administration. “Specifically, do you ‘ego surf’?” Dead silence. None of them knew what I meant by “ego surfing” â€" the practice of routinely checking your online status to see what reveals up when someone Googles you. Social media is a robust indicator of how you’re perceived by people you could or could not know. Most job seekers by no means think to check their online status, and are surprised by what shows up once they finally do. Ego browsing is a great exercise and habit to get into so you’re never caught unaware when somebody (particularly a hiring manager or recruiter) checks you out online. I once spoke at a women’s occasion and Googled the names of some of the attendees before the program began. I bear in mind once I entered the weird name of a lady named “Khatarina”: Google replied with two “hits” on her name. The first re sponse Google returned was for a porn star! The second response had a hyperlink, which learn, “If you need to do a background verify on Khatarina, click right here…” Then Google tried totally different spellings of her unusual name, assuming I’d typed it in incorrectly. I shared this instance in the presentation (altering the name, after all). A girl approached me immediately after I completed â€" ghost white â€" and stated, “I think you had been speaking about me, and I’ve been on the lookout for a job for 18 months. I by no means thought to verify what an employer can discover about me on-line.” Assume Your Employer (and Recruiters) Will Google You Whether you in search of a new job, a greater job or methods of constructing your network, assume the people you'll meet will put your name into Google to study more about you. What will they discover? Does the knowledge they discover support the reputation you want to have? Is there false or misleading information about you that must be addressed? Tragic Examples Most people who search their online status find newspaper mentions, awards, announcements and firm promotions in the results. However, I’ve heard many horror tales from people who’ve Google themselves and located: Fix Your Online Reputation If you discover that your name erroneously appears next to the words “convicted,” “deceased,” or “appearing nightly,” there are a number of issues you are able to do to correct the scenario. Similarly, if someone Googles you and finds nothing (you might be nowhere to be found online), this can provide the impression that you’re irrelevant and uninteresting. Your private branding objective is to utilize every available tool to proactively promote the status you desire and distance yourself from those that do not symbolize you or your required picture. (Click right here to tweet this thought.) Here’s how: 1. Add the content you wish to see. Google indexes search outcomes primarily based on your frequency of posting, the consistency of your name (i.e. whether or not you submit as John Bowden, J. Bowden or John P. Bowden) and the keywords in your messages. By proactively populating new content material, you push the less favorable content all the way down to later pages. To help make it easy for Google to find you on-line, arrange a number of online profiles at popular social networking sites corresponding to LinkedIn, Google Profiles, Yahoo Profiles, Twitter and Facebook. Then populate them with fastidiously crafted content that represents you within the light you want. 2. Become energetic in social networking boards the place your expertise and expertise may be demonstrated. Yahoo and LinkedIn both provide groups and reply forums that permit you to share insights and knowledge that you management. 3. Get automated alerts on your name. Set up a Google Alert or Mention.web alerts so the various search engines ship you notifications every time your name seems on-line. 4. Start a weblog. Blogs permit you to share extra detailed content, along your experience and/or interests, and are sometimes listed extra aggressively if you post frequently. If you don’t wish to write your own weblog, then contribute to different blogs with significant and relevant content material. 5. Remove any posts you have made that you simply regret. Go to the blogs, articles, boards and options and take away your feedback if you still can. 6. Un-tag yourself from unflattering photographs. The function of “tagging” a photograph is to let you and others know that you’re in a picture. Many websites permit you to un-tag your self and/or contact the one who posted the image and request they take away it. A proactive technique for building your presence online is each rewarding and fun. Why leave your popularity to probability? Ego surfing helps you see what others find about you online. You never want to stroll into a meeting, interview or pitch and all of a sudden end up in the crosshairs of an unflattering popularity created online. What gems have you ever turned up whereas doing your own ego browsing? Share within the feedback! Image: Photobucket