14/04/2012
5 Tips to Clean Up Your Online Identity
Posted on March 20, 2012 by Alison Hillman
Cleaning up your online identity isn’t just about hiding aspects of your life you don’t want to share with everyone in your network, it’s also about promoting the best version of yourself to advance your career!
1. Lock Down Your Privacy Settings
Use Facebook lists and utilize the Limited Profile feature to ensure that personal pictures and photos are for just for friends
Choose a profile picture that you’d be comfortable having a future employer see
Tip: Google your name on a computer with a cleared cache to gain insight about your first impression
2. Be Positive
Post positive news articles, comments and industry insights
Negativity can be a turnoff for prospective employers
If you want to make political or religious statements, always be respectful of others’ opinions
Tip: If a random person who has never hung out with you reads your tweets and posts, would they think you are someone they would want to employ?
3. Stay Professional
Create a www.branchout.com profile on Facebook to separate your personal online identity and your professional online identity
Tag your profile with relevant skills for jobs that you want
Tip: Get your friends on your team, make sure they aren’t abusing your Facebook wall with inappropriate pictures and posts
4. Build Your Brand
Become a consistent expert on topics that genuinely enjoy reading about and discussing
Cater your posts to your audience
Tip: Find people with personal brands that you relate to and emulate their style
5. Be Consistent
Once you’ve decided on your online name and brand, stick with it, otherwise it becomes difficult to build a reputation and gain followers
Create a dialogue with like-minded people by posting, tweeting and commenting on relevant platforms
Tip: Use platforms that will help you schedule tweets, blog entries and posts
