Applying for a job? Think about your online presence

My recent post about applying for jobs reminded me of an important tip point about scoring the interview: if your online presence reflects negatively on you, your resume may only go as far File 13. More and more, employers are Googling potential interview candidates, checking out their names on Facebook, MySpace (I know! people are still on that site!) Twitter, and blogging sites such as Blogger (where this site is hosted) and Wordpress. And if they find anything they dislike on your social networking sites, it's bye-bye interview.

According to an article in the Sunday 10/3/2010 Wall Street Journal insert in the Denver Post, some new professionals are only allowing a close circle of family and friends to have access to your personal networking sites but then have a professional, public site that anyone can see. The article described signing up for Google alerts to "keep track of where and how your name is mentioned." Meanwhile, as you create your public, professional presence online, be sure to friend or connect with others in your field--former colleagues from college as well as previous jobs (well, people that you would admit to hanging out with, anyway).

Interestingly, the article also states the following:

You can take [your web presence] a step further by creating your own blog. Write about the new developments in your career and industry. Post links to articles of interest. Offer a space for reader feedback so you can build an audience. It's okay to be critical of something or someone--you want to establish your voice. Keep it professional.