Personal Advancement
The Internet: Friend or foe to your job search?Job seekers, beware your online identity. It could be what makes or breaks your career aspirations. Sun Media |
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 [ 2006-11-08 ] |
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Now, not only must job seekers woo employers with their resume and interview savvy, they're expected to have an outstanding Internet presence as well. Employers have turned to social networking websites and search engines to screen job seekers based on the additional information about them potentially floating through cyber space. In fact, three-fourths of recruiters admit to googling job candidates, according to a recent Harris Interactive poll.
Recognizing that it's practically inevitable that employers will go online to find information about job candidates, 24% of people age 18-24 say they would post their resume for employers to see on social networking sites such as MySpace, Facebook or Friendster, according to the September 2006 Spherion Workplace Snapshot. Unfortunately, the last thing many recruiters want to see is an online resume accompanied by pictures of keg parties or inappropriate jokes posted on the job seeker's message board; therefore, job seekers who want to maintain professionalism in their job search would be wise to ensure their social life cannot become the subject of skepticism for recruiters, based on an unflattering web persona. Furthermore, career expert Michael Farr, author of the recently released Same-Day Resume, Second Edition, believes there are other, more appropriate places on the Internet for someone to post their resume.
"To create a comprehensive picture of who you are and what you have done professionally, you can create an online career portfolio," Farr says.
"They enhance web-based resumes in that they provide evidence of your past work performance, including samples, testimonials, articles, videos, photographs and charts."
Farr acknowledges that an online portfolio could be just as harmful to a person's job search as social networking websites if they look amateurish and include unnecessary personal information, such as someone's religious or political views; however, a professional-looking portfolio that features an impressive, diverse work history can create the outstanding online identity many recruiters hope to find when they log online to learn more about candidates.
"Maybe there will come a time when the web career portfolio is as common as the resume; but for now, there is a lot of opportunity to stand out from your competition and be extraordinary," Farr says.
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