Thom Singer, a fellow Austinite, has a post warning millenials (the most frequent users of social networks like Facebook and Myspace) about making sure that your profiles are cleaned up for prospective employers. His post got me thinking, and while he is correct, he doesn’t hit on the other side of the coin:
I think Thom is absolutely right in making sure that you manage your image properly, but I think that you need to put thought into how you do it, and make sure it lines up with your personal beliefs and morals. I’ve talked about how we need to manage our personal brand properly, and I still believe that a lot of that stuff applies.
While it is important to make sure that all of your compromising content (assuming you have any) is protected, people sometimes forget about the counterpart to that. I believe that it is equally or even more important to make your online brand strong with positive content. It’s a two-pronged strategy, keep the bad stuff off, but give prospective employers something positive to see - blogging or participating in conversations about stuff going on in your industry or hobbies shows that you are (or can be) coherent, articulate, and knowledgeable outside of the classroom.
When your prospective employers google your name, or look you up on facebook, give something they want to see, not just hiding stuff that you don’t want them to see.
Photo courtesy of Flickr user Hello_Serjiy
Comments 2
yeah man i totally agree.
you need to have both. get the good stuff out there too. stuff like this http://www.vimeo.com/1072708
…where were you for all the cliff diving fun anyway?!?
Posted 27 May 2008 at 4:36 pm ¶Totally with you. While the cleaning up process is necessary, the building up process can be more beneficial. YouTube videos of presentations or speeches and Blogs on your industry will show that you are a leader in your field or at least taking the steps necessary to move ahead in your career.
Posted 29 May 2008 at 8:56 am ¶Post a Comment