online reputation management for job seekers

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Online Reputation Management Unlocking a

Successful

Job Search

Susan P. JoyceJob-Hunt.org

WIND South, July 29, 2010

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Online Reputation Management

“Google is the new resume.”

Richard N. Bolles, Nov. 2009

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Online Reputation Management

If Google doesn’t know who you are, you’re in trouble.

However -

What happens in Vegas, stays in --- Google, Bing, Facebook, YouTube…

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Online Reputation ManagementAgenda: Online Reputation Impact Your Online Reputation:

1 - 10 Steps to a Stronger Online Reputation

2 - 3+ Primary Reputation Venues

3 - How to Monitor Your Online Reputation

4 - 6 Ways to Bury “Digital Dirt”

Resources

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Online Reputation ImpactEmployers:

44% - “always” research candidates online

35% - research “most of the time”

9% - research “sometimes”

5% - research “rarely”

6% - never research

* Source: Microsoft-funded research reported in Dec, 2009.

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Job seekers: 11% - are “very concerned” about their online

reputations

18% - are “somewhat concerned”

28% - are “not very concerned”

37% - are “not concerned at all”

* Source: Microsoft-funded research reported in Dec, 2009.

Online Reputation Impact

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The Online Reputation Mismatch

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Employers:

Almost 80% of employers conduct online research always or most of the time.

Around 30 % of consumers are at least somewhat concerned about their online reputations.

Consumers:

* Source: Microsoft-funded research reported in Dec, 2009.

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And the Missed Opportunities

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48% of employers saw the positive impact “to a great extent”

38 % saw a positive impact “to some extent”

86% of employers saw positive impact

10% saw “a little” impact 1% saw “no impact at all”

* Source: Microsoft-funded research reported in Dec, 2009.

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Reputation Management CaseFor example: Highly-qualified job seeker. Professionally-done résumé. Submitted to dozens of appropriate

opportunities.

No response. Not one. In 4 months.

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Reputation Management CaseGoogle “vanity” search found: Person with exactly the same name involved

in a US Supreme Court obscenity case. Another person with exactly the same name

was a disbarred attorney in the same state.

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Reputation Management CaseReputation repair: Chose a “clean” version of his name. Updated:

Résumé LinkedIn Profile. Google Profile.

Interview invitations from new submissions.

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1: 10 Steps to a Stronger Reputation

1. Google yourself. Are you at the top of the 1st page? the 5th page?

How many of the results on the first page are about you? How many of the top 50 results are about you? How many of the results are about others? Any bad stuff there (digital dirt or a doppelganger)?

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1: 10 Steps to a Stronger Reputation

2. On GoDaddy, research the variations of your name available as [yourname].com: Skip the .net, etc. if someone else owns the .com Domain registration is ~ $10/year at GoDaddy.com Website NOT required, but perfect for your blog. Cool email address: [you]@[yourname].com

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1: 10 Steps to a Stronger Reputation3. Pick a unique, clean name.

(E.g., “David Meerman Scott” & “James Earl Jones”)

Choose a variation you can live with for a long time. “James” vs. “Jim” or “Sue” vs. “Susan” Add a middle name or middle initial

This is your “brand name” – it could be the name

you’ve always used (if clean) or a new version.

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1: 10 Steps to a Stronger Reputation

4. Purchase the clean, unique name as a [yourname].com domain name.

5. Implement the name consistently. Social media profiles Your resume Your professional email

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1: 10 Steps to a Stronger Reputation

6. Grab all the “vanity URL’s” for your name. Linkedin.com/in/yourname Google.com/profiles/yourname Facebook.com/yourname Twitter.com/yourname Optional: yourname.blogspot.com Optional: yourname.name (domain)

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7. Participate meaningfully in social media. Contribute at least 3 to 5 times a week Limit your venues to the manageable Stay on-message Stay positive (don’t burn bridges) View reputation management as a long-term

activity

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1: 10 Steps to a Stronger Reputation

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1: 10 Steps to a Stronger Reputation

8. Keep profiles updated. Focus on 2 or 3 venues Be detailed

9. Buy Google AdWords ads for your name. Not expensive for most people

10. Blog weekly (or more), IF you have time, ideas, energy, & skills.

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2: Venues - LinkedIn Is # 1 Job seekers MUST have a LinkedIn Profile:

80% of recruiters are using social media 95% of that 80% use LinkedIn

Often top Google search result on your name Not a popularity contest, but…

the bigger your network the wider the reach of your free search.

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2: Venues - LinkedIn ProfileBe here or be invisible: Do a public, not private, profile 100% complete (photo + 3 recommendations) Make your email address visible Update & participate daily Positive future-focused Personal Headline

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LinkedIn Professional Headlines 120 characters for marketing & SEO:

Environmental, Health & Safety Professional - Available "immediately" for a full-time job in the Chicago area! (95)

Strategic and Product Marketing Leader : Market Assessments, Competitive Positioning, Go-to-Market, Launch. (107)

Bestselling Career Author, Career Coach, Motivational Career Speaker / Career & Job Coach Trainer Who Transforms Lives! (119!)

Unemployed (10 useless letters)

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2: Venues - Google Profile is # 2 Free! Google! Visible to all (caution!) Google.com/profiles/you Unlimited space (vs. LinkedIn) Unlimited visibility (vs. LinkedIn & Facebook)

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2: Venues - Your Google Profile Login to your Google account. Type http://www.google.com/profiles into the

browser’s location bar Complete the form:

Include all the information relevant to your job search.

Add a photo. Verify your email address.

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2: Venues - Twitter Is # 3 Choose your username carefully - @username Complete the Bio! 160 characters

Link to your best URL Don’t leave the header blank Add marketing with your name or username

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2: Venues - Twitter Power NOT a popularity contest! Participate carefully, on-topic for you

Share good information. Don’t expect many Followers until you have done

some Tweets. Retweet good stuff generously. Follow accounts that interest you.

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2: Venues - More Twitter Power Use a desktop tool like TweetDeck to

organize your Tweetstream Twitter Lists Twitter searches e.g. #jobsearch #jobhunting

Find: Employers Tweet job postings Job boards Tweet job postings

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2: Venues - Blogs Blogs are effective, powerful, long-lasting

brand builders. Good blogs are a lot of work. 200+ million blogs exist, est. 15 million are

“active”

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2: Venues - More About Blogs A blog can become a business. With sufficient traffic, they can make $$$. With sufficient revenue, they become a

marketable asset. It ain’t easy or common, but it is do-able.

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2: More Reputation Venues LinkedIn Google Profile Twitter Facebook Amazon Profile YouTube Scribd Spoke

Business Week BX Profile Fast Company Profile VisualCV ZoomInfo Personal Website or Blog? Guest posts on other blogs? Google Knol SlideShare

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3: Monitoring Your Reputation Google & Bing yourself weekly. Google Alerts (google.com/alerts)

Easiest to set up & manage from a Google account. Structure like a Google search:

Quotation marks around phrases Plus & minus sign to add or subtract words

Set up Alerts on your name(s), your nickname(s), preferred employers, recruiters, competitors, etc.

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4: 6 Ways to Bury “Digital Dirt” 1. Remove from your own blog/account.

2. Request others remove it.

3. Ask Google to remove it.

4. Push it down in search results by being active in the right places (see 3: More Venues).

5. Present your side of the story.

6. Hire help (ReputationDefender.com)

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Think of The Possibilities… Growing market for people with “social

media” skills in corporate America.

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Your assignment… Get started today! Stay in touch, let me know what works for

you: wind@job-hunt.org

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Resources Microsoft “Privacy Study” Job-Hunt: Social Media & Job Search Dan Schawbel: Personal Branding Blog Steven J. Campbell: Social Branding Blog Jason Alba: ImonLinkedInNowWhat blog Darren Rowse: ProBlogger.net blog

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Resources

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learn.linkedin.com/new-users/ learn.linkedin.com/job-seekers/ ImonLinkedInNowWhat.com Free Job-Hunt Guide ebook: Branding &

Your LinkedIn Profile Free ebook: Job Seeker’s Guide to LinkedIn

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Books New Rules of Marketing & PR (David Meerman

Scott) Me 2.0 (Dan Schawbel) Book (& DVD): I’m on LinkedIn. Now What???

(Jason Alba) The Twitter Job Search Guide (Whitcomb, Bryan,

Dib) Radically Transparent (Beal and Strauss)

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Job-Hunt.org

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Job-Hunt.org: US News & World Report Top Site for Finding Work Forbes Best of the Web for Job Hunting

Over 15,500 carefully-selected links, including 8,000+ links to employer recruiting pages

Follow @JobHuntOrg on Twitter Friend us at facebook.com/JobHuntOrg Find this presentation at SlideShare.net/jobhuntsue

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