Have you ever Googled yourself?

I know what you are thinking, “I am not that vain.  Why would I Google myself?”.  Personal branding is so important. I think you would be surprised what comes up and what people can find out about you. Just by a super quick google search, you can come up with so much information. To do this go into incognito mode first in your browser so that you do not look at biased search history.

This is what employers are doing to find out more about you even before they have invited you into an interview. Potential employers could already know what you look like, what you do in your spare time, any side hustles you have and so much more.

Yes, you want to be authentically you and not hold anything back. After all your future employer should know who you are and what you are about but do they need to know that when you were 15 you had a MySpace page and were into the alternative music??

The good news is, it is super easy to monitor what people can view about you on the internet and there are some ways to manipulate the system to ensure what you want to come up is what you want people to see.

Facebook – the best way to find out what posts are public on your profile it to google your name and Facebook. This will show you any posts that you have set to public. You do not need to delete these just find them and change them private or just for your friends. Drunken nights out, foul language or bizarre behaviour are not going to help you look like a good fit for a brand who is in the public eye. If you don’t care, why would you care about your future employer or colleagues?

Twitter – go through your tweet history and look at how opinionated you were in the past. Are there any extreme views that you have aired publicly that perhaps you shouldn’t have? Just delete them. Check the accounts that you follow and find out what the people are about. I know there was a time in the past in which we all followed anyone that followed us. What are they now posting about? Do you still want to associate yourself with them?

Instagram – If you have a public profile it means anyone can see your content including your stories. Just have a quick flick through your gallery and make sure your images are PG and represent who you want to be and how you would like your future employer to look at you. For example, a drunk photo taken whilst having that cigarette you only have on a Friday night may not look as good to a health company who is looking to employ staff to represent their brand and embody their ethos.

Myspace – Just delete this! No one uses this anymore but everyone seemed to forget all about it until they do the google search.

LinkedIn – I know this is your business face, this is where you invite your future employers to look for you but there are also ways you can make sure that you come up on the top of your Google search with your LinkedIn profile and this is to optimise it. The more information you have on your LinkedIn profile the better, the more you share on your wall the more Google will notice and optimise it better. There is a whole other post about optimising your LinkedIn profile for future employers which we will follow up with. For now, update as much as possible. Your aim is to get your profile to “All Star” this is when LinkedIn deem that you have completed as much of your profile as possible. You are more likely to come up on Google when you have done this.

Are you on the lookout for a new job right now? Have you got your personal branding on point now?  Contact the team to see how we could help you make your next move.