2: Online Identity Video
Transcript:
Online Identity
FRIEND: I hear you have a job interview tomorrow. Congratulations.
JILL: Thanks! It's a second interview. I'm pretty sure I'm gonna get it. I've already put in my two-weeks notice.
FRIEND: And you haven't even gotten the other job yet? It must be bad.
JILL: You have no idea. My supervisor is horrible. Sheila Gorman. Complete taskmaster. Only two more weeks at my terrible job. Sheila Gorman is a certified you-know-what with the IQ of a doorknob. Worst. Boss. Ever. So long! Exclamation point.
FRIEND: Did you just post that on Facebook?
JILL: And Twitter.
FRIEND: Aren't you afraid they're going to find out?
JILL: What are they going to do, fire me? I already quit. Besides, I doubt my boss is even on Facebook. She doesn't have any friends.
JILL: And that's why I think I would be the perfect fit for this position.
INTERVIEWER: Funny you say that, as I mentioned, we are a small firm, so everyone here works very closely with one another, and we all have direct contact with our clients. We need employees that we can trust. Employees who will act professionally at all times.
JILL: That's me. The model of professionalism.
INTERVIEWER: Right. It's just, well I would really hate it if one of our clients were to be online and learn that one of our employees thought she was a “you-know-what with an IQ of a doorknob.”
JILL: Hang on. I said that on my personal page. I didn't mean...
INTERVIEWER: You didn't mean to hurt anyone's feelings. But we have to be careful. This is a law office. Our clients count on us being discreet. And I'm just not convinced that you are as good a fit here as you say you are. I'm sorry.
VO: Have you ever heard the phrase, “Your reputation precedes you?” Nowadays more and more of us are building reputations—building whole identities, in fact—online through our use of social media and other networking sites. And those reputations—those identities— follow us wherever we go.
An important part of having a successful career is establishing and maintaining your online persona, the version of you that the whole world has access to at the click of a mouse, including prospective employers.
In fact, recent studies have shown that nearly half of all employers search for prospective job candidates online and check their social media accounts before an interview. And employers often find something that causes them to reject a candidate. In other words: what you say online could cost you a job.
For example, nearly half of all employers interviewed say they have dismissed a job candidate based on inappropriate photographs or information found online. And a third have dismissed candidates due to poor communication skills. A quarter of employers say that they have used search engines to discover job candidates lying about their qualifications. Even your screen name can keep you out of a job if it seems unprofessional. That means you, wildchild42.
MANGER: Rick. How are things going? You learning your way around? Everyone being helpful?
RICK: Yeah. No problem. I think I'm getting it all.
MANGER: That's good. Listen, Rick. It's been brought to my attention that you might not have been completely honest on your résumé.
RICK: Oh?
MANGER: Well. It says here that you worked for Snyder and Sons from March until December of last year. Which is fine, except, according to your Facebook history, you were backpacking across Australia for most of that year. There's even a picture of you standing outside the Sydney Opera House. Care to explain?
RICK: Um. I built up a lot of vacation days?
EXPERT: We hear more and more stories about employees who got in trouble when their employers started snooping around online, but it can go the other way, too. Your online persona can help establish you as a qualified candidate or a star employee.
Now for example, nearly half of all hiring authorities say that they get a good sense of a job candidate's personality and level of professionalism simply by researching them online. Your online identity tells a lot about your interests and your accomplishments as well as what other people think of you.
VO: What can you do to maintain a professional online identity? For starters, you need to think of yourself as your own brand, and as the manager of that brand. Everything you post— every blog, picture, and tweet—contributes to your image. Let your online identity showcase your skills, values, and personality traits that you think employers would be looking for. Are you dependable? Passionate? Outgoing? Dedicated? Make sure that the information you put online helps to feed this best impression of you.
CASE STUDY 1: I used social media like Twitter and Facebook to help build my network. Friends all across the country would sometimes mention companies that were hiring or send me job leads. I also used these sites to learn about potential employers by following their posts, which helped me when I interviewed.
CASE STUDY 2: I actually got my current job through blogging. One of the people who followed my posts said he was impressed with my writing and wanted to know if I would come work in his PR department. Now he's my boss and I write blogs for the company.
CASE STUDY 3: I set up a website while I was doing my job search after college. It was all about my career goals, work, and education history. It was kind of an online portfolio with videos, transcripts, and documents. That way employers could go one place online and see all I had to offer. I think it really helped me land the job I have now.
VO: Managing your online identity also means protecting it. You don't want someone hacking into your account and stealing or changing your personal information. Be sure to check the security settings on your computer. Use strong passwords and change them frequently.
EXPERT: One of the easiest things you can do to manage your online identity is to pay attention to the privacy settings on your social media accounts. If you want to keep your business and private life separate, don't share everything you do on your free time with the world. Nearly every social media site has a way to control who sees what. That being said, you want to create some kind of online presence— you just want to make sure it is a positive, professional one.
VO: With each passing year, we spend more and more of our time online, navigating a growing virtual world. But our online identities have a direct impact on how others perceive us offline. A carefully managed online identity can help you to build your network and your career. Take a moment and consider the following.