Be aware that everything you do online reflects upon you real life. So you have to decide who is going to have access to your profile, and how much of personal and professional information you are eager to display on public.
Below, we will focus on several most important indices that create your online image, and on efficient strategies that will let your unique personality shine though the screen!
- You profile picture is you visit card in the cyber world. So make sure it represents you in a good light. Leave all those sexy/funny/drunken party pictures for personal use.
- Don’t display a myriad of albums. Of course, we know you are proud with your “Me here”/“Me there”/“Funny me”/”Popular me”/”Pretty me” albums, but your employer will not be that excited to see you in a nurse’s outfit on Halloween or with 10 tequila shots in one hand. Untag yourself from those pictures of your friends that might harm your reputation.
- Regarding your description, fill in the essential information. Leave out information concerning religious and political views.
- Resume your comments to reasonable ones. If you are about to make an edgy/angry/critical comment, think that soon, the whole world (or world wide web) might know it.
- Monitor your vocabulary, spelling and grammar even in friendly discussions.
- Limit the number of your posts per day, as their abundance may show that you rather spend all your time online than work. Nobody wants to hire an internet fanatic.
- The absence of profiles on social networks is not an option either, as it might show the potential employer you are not very familiar with computers and basic internet-use information.
Not to mention that there exist companies that perform extensive online searches for human resources departments, following a candidate’s activity within the social networks. And believe me, they know how to do their job well.
Establishing your online image is a form of art. And it is your responsibility to learn to master this art, as a reputation that took years to build can be threatened by a single careless comment or post.
Olga Rusu
Educational Adviser, EAC Moldova
