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Can Your Digital Footprint Keep You Unemployed? – Pt. 2

By Willette Coleman ©2016

DIY Virtual Clean Up*

Keeping your online life clean is a career life skill that can go a long way to achieving success. “Go Google yourself/GGY” (No, that’s not an insult.).  In today’s “wired” world, “google-ing” yourself is self-preservation.  Just put your name in quotes (i.e. “Janice L. Jones,” or “James M. Jones.”) into a couple of search engines, click search and you might be pleasantly surprised.  If unpleasantly surprised, delete anything that might be considered offensive.  If you’re unsure, ask someone. That family member, friend or acquaintance who seems to be critical about everything (in a good way) could be helpful.  HeadsUp ~ Regrettably, even after deleting photos, comments, web pages and blogs, they may not be “deleted” in the virtual world.  For example, the FBI was able to retrieve emails Hillary Clinton deleted a year ago.

Mistaken identity is the utmost reason to GGY.  One job applicant, Kevin G. told Forbes.com/Learnvest about how his self-search revealed a sex offender with the same name, even though the sex offender’s middle initial was different.  Is there a despicable same-name person who could be mistaken for you?  Unfortunately, some employers might not invest the time to dig deeper, especially if under a deadline and have hundreds of applications.  Nonetheless, Reputationmanagement.com cautions employers to be sure they “have reliable information before immediately disqualifying a candidate.”  They also advise employers to hire someone un-involved in the hiring process to review applicants’ social media.
(HeadsUp ~ Job seekers should take a look at this site to get some insight into what employers are advised to prioritize.)

If DIY is your thing, com offers a free clean up tool.  If not, “online clean up” or “cyber-scrubbing” services like Reputation.com’s ReputationDefender (starting at $250 monthly) promises to “fix negative search results” including on MySpace.  You may no longer use MySpace, but it might contain some past damaging comments you’ve forgotten.
(HeadsUp ~ Check out BrandYourself’s jobs/careers. If you understand the ins and outs of behind-the-scenes technology, i.e. coding (Got kids?  Check out computer coding or kids) backlinks, algorithms, etc., you could earn a living in this profitable industry.)

In his post, How to Clean Up Your Online Reputation, Allan Hoffman suggests you “sign up at Google Alerts…”  The service mainly monitors whether your name has been mentioned or “pinned” anywhere on the net.  It’s likely that the person mentioning your name is the one who reviewed your social media and is the individual to contact.  As with cleaning up your credit report, you should have non-credible mentions removed.

Linkedin alerts users to the number of people who have reviewed their profile, but you must subscribe to its “Premium” services to see who. Can you lock out snoopers?  Probably not.  Hackers will admit that “nothing on the Internet is secure.”  Privacy settings help, but unscrupulous HMs might attempt to bypass your privacy setting by impersonating as a “friend,” as Cleveland.com reported. Encryption apps, like Gabriel, by VirnetX, promises users “peace of mind;” that your data is stored only on your devices, “be it phone, tablet or computer.”  A word of caution:  It pays to do some checking on apps’ developers before you download.  For example, VirnetX is a “patent troll,” according to Wikipedia, which IT professionals consider “contentious.”  Also, with some apps, you might be giving the developer access to ALL of your email and other social media content as reported is the price paid by users that download the Pokemon Go app. Also, according to NakedSecurity, the game is susceptible to malware.

*This is a three-part series. Check out part 3 of this series here! Interested in writing for our Guest Blogger series? Email info@perkconsulting.net
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Willette Coleman is a career planning and scholarship coach.  Her blog is www.careernscholarshipscoach.blogspot.com.