Since almost everyone is now accessing the Internet, employers are utilizing potential candidates’ online presence to determine suitability for employment. Oliu, Brusaw, and Alred (2021) are advising job seekers and current employees on the best strategies to manage their online presence. Recruiters constantly scrutinize any content posted by or about staff or candidates. Therefore, the authors are advocating for caution when sharing content on social network such as Facebook, personal blogs, and other websites. Some suggestions they give include searching for and deleting inappropriate content, maintaining a professional demeanor, regularly updating privacy settings to limit access, and desisting from sharing inappropriate and objectionable materials (Oliu et al., 2021). Managing one’s online presence during a job search is vital in today’s digital space.
I find the authors’ suggestions and advice quite useful for college students, job seekers, and current workers. Social networks and personal blogs give liberty to people to express themselves in ways they could not in the physical world. Therefore, such online information reveals more about a candidate than a formal job interview. Employers and recruiting agents check a candidate’s online presence to determine if they are articulate and creative. They also want to establish if one would be a positive representative for the company by gauging their social life and common sense levels. For example, an employee or candidates who have nude pictures as their profile pictures would be flagged as potentially bad representatives. Although they can have all the fun in the world, common sense and self-respect should not allow them to share such images with the public. Therefore, the authors are offering relevant counsel to every job seeker and employee to present their best versions online as they would in a job interview.
Reference
Oliu, W. E., Brusaw, C. T., & Alred, G. J. (2021). Writing that works: Communicating effectively on the job. Macmillan Higher Education.