Take a moment to google yourself…Go ahead…. What comes up when you search your name on the internet?  Your Myspace page?  An old paper you wrote freshmen year?  A newspaper article documenting your latest volunteer service or an article on your arrest from high school?  Now imagine an employer doing this…would they get the RIGHT impression of you? 

 This whole topic of managing your online image has become increasingly important in this connected world.  It is extremely important to realize that your “E-portfolio” can have a very strong impact on your hireability.  Hiring managers agree that having a professional online presence has become more crucial.  Getting a job may rely on your online footprint and the management of your personal brand. 

Here are some statistics:

44% of hiring managers use google, myspace, and facebook to do online background checks on candidates. 
Nearly 1/3 of these background checks lead to rejection of a candidate!!  Thats huge!!

The E-Portfolio is the newest career tool in this era of job hunting!  Take advantage of it.  The E-Portfolio will give you a competitive edge and will give you a positive online image if an employer were to search for you online.  I will be giving you all the details on how to create your very own E-Portfolio or online image!

So what exactly is an online image or E-Portfolio? 
It gives you an opportunity to communicate with a large audience and be part of a large social audience that you may not have had the opportunity to reach with traditional methods.

Some Tips on creating your own online image:

1. Join Linkedin.com.  This is a great site that will allow you to create a professional social networking “resume” and allows you the chance to connect to a lot of great contacts.  Your linkedin.com profile will also show up when you google your name.  Use this to your advantage and list all of your strengths, education, and experience using well written short descriptions. 
2. Start a blog.  Starting a blog is not just for people with uncommon niche interests.  Find a topic you find interesting and is relevent to your professional life and write in it often.  Read other blogs on industry news and comment.  All of these small things will help to create a good social presence for your on the internet. 
3. Check your myspace and facebook profiles.  If there is anything that would give an employer the wrong impression of you, take it down!  Pictures should be professional.  You can stand out from the pack if you use your myspace or facebook page as another tool in your job search strategy.  Not everyone has the attitude of “its just a social profile.”  Make sure all privacy settings are enabled so only close friends can see things about you.
4. For those more web saavy people, start a website or create an online resume.  These can be great additions to your paper resume and you can certainly include a link to your online resume on your paper resume and in any footings or signatures of any emails you send to employers regarding your job search.   You can detail more experiences, share some volunteer experiences and even include pictures, showcase some examples of your work.  Be careful with this though….professionalism is of utmost importance.

Utilizing these simple steps will allow some really interesting information to pop up when a potential employer runs their background check on you.  If they google you and find your linkedin page, a really interesting comment on a professional blog related to your industry, and a sample of your marketing collateral created in a class, you one step closer to that new job!