CLEAN UP YOUR PERSONAL DIGITAL DIRT
Comments (1)
MY SOAP BOX THIS WEEK IS PERSONAL DIGITAL DIRT.
THE PROBLEM: Who among us has not been tempted to rant on-line about something we care deeply? Politics and religion are tempting topics for your opinions; they are also exactly the topics where you can offend the most people. And what about all those pictures of the drunken brawl after the game? Well, guess what, with the newest tools, anyone can find out even the oldest dirt about your personal and business life.
Fact: Prospective employers vet ‘suspects’ on-line prior to contact. There is no law to prevent them from not contacting you because they found something you said or did to be at odds with their own views. You will never know who did not contact you for a job.
And worse, if you are already in the interview cycle, it is a guarantee someone with whom you interview will vet you on-line. If they see or read something unpalatable they can make a reason not to proceed with hiring.
THE SOLUTION: Personal digital dirt has no shelf life; it exists forever. So, what can you do to manage your reputation on line? How can you overcome these self made obstacles to create a professional brand? How can you manage your professional brand on-line and keep dirt away from your digital door?
- Stop creating dirt. Keep your opinions off line, just don’t do it. Not even once.
- See what is out there. Use the tools above and search on your name, phone number, aliases, first initial and last name and your full name with your middle initial. Women, search your maiden name.
- Contact every site that lists your dirt. Do whatever is possible to have it and your account removed.
- Use all the social networking sites you can find. Create a wonderful and accurate profile of your background and professional life. Use a professional head shot and maintain these profiles.
- Create a blog, respond to questions on social networking sites and other blogs, and participate on forums including those for your hobbies. Your objective is to create so much clean dirt that the bad dirt is forced much lower on the page.
- Use Google Alerts on your name to monitor how the world sees your digital brand.
CLEAN-UP ON STEROIDS: The über solution employs the notion of pushing your dirt as low as possible on search engine results. Sign up for as many high profile social networking sites as you have the time to monitor.
Ziggs, a social networking site for professionals, misleads prospects with the promise to “Build a free professional profile and search for other professionals.” Enticing as that is, their real value to the job seeker, passive or active, is that they are invested in helping professionals create an online brand. While not specifically targeted to job seekers, it inevitably works as a tool for clever hiring authorities to find you through the very best digital footprint you can create.
How is it different from other social networking sites? Ziggs is highly ranked with search engines and as such, your entry is almost guaranteed to come up high on any search for your name. Sure, it takes Internet time for your original profile to appear, but if you are in a hurry, Ziggs offers a 48 hour presence for a few bucks.
The advantage to you is one of the first entries people see is one that sets the stage for you as a professional; one over which you have complete control. That first impression may very well cancel out some of the less positive dirt available. Fill out the complete profile and people can see you as a well-rounded, exemplary citizen in the business world. No Dirt.
There are the familiar groups to join, comments and discussions to use and many ways to search for contacts or companies. And a truly stand-out feature is you can actually see, using a map feature, the locations of people who found you on Ziggs. Why do you care? If you sent your resume to Dallas and a red flag appears on your map on Dallas, you know someone is vetting you. To add to the thrill, Ziggs will email you with every new flag and information on the key words used in the search for you. Mouse over the flag reveals useful data:
Ziggs Real-Time Search Alert
Search Terms: Rita Ashley Medford Oregon
Search(Engine): Ziggs
Visitor(Location):Bellevue, WA
Date: 11/18/2008
Time: 5:11:00 PM
Julia Bradley, Vice President of Ziggs Marketing, encourages professionals who want to stand out from others who share their name to purchase their own domain URL, a service Ziggs makes very easy. If you want to look truly professional, you need your own named address such as Julia@juliabradeley.com. Sage advice for the long term.
CLEAN THE PICTURE DIRT: Julia also recommends using as many as six photos on Ziggs that show you in your many professional guises. Google supports image searches which can be damaging. Your objective is to have many good pictures show up first. Because of Ziggs high search engine ranking, your Ziggs pictures just may push bad images further down the page. Check it out, Google your own name, then Google/image Ziggs President, Tim DeMello, or Eve Maler which is a terrific example of why your hobbies count, for example. Everything on her image page, including her book covers is impressive and relevant to any job search.
Do not underestimate the picture is worth a thousand words cliche. Remember, you want to create and maintain a professional brand, not let your college buddies know you are still a wild and crazy guy or gal. It is all about a professional brand and your career.
Themocracy