By now, you’ve already added a professional photo to your LinkedIn profile (right?!), but what about Twitter, Facebook, and all your other online personas?

What does someone see when they Google you?

Egosurf yourself to find out – but be sure to use a public computer, like a display model at an electronics store, so your results are not muddled by your previous searches.

Do You Like What You See?

Are the many links and images of you mainly showcasing your professional accomplishments and just some of your personal life? Or is your non-LinkedIn entries full of too-crazy moments?

Guess what, too much online fun my be hurting your job prospects. Yes, hiring staff Google you, and then make assumptions about you based on what they see. It doesn’t matter if that’s legal or not, its certainly done.

This isn’t to say you should start deleting your past, or start to hide your present, only that you should be thoughtful of what you project to the world.

You do want potential co-workers to see you are a normal, happy person, but you may not want them to know all about your personal life before you get a first interview.

My Approach

If you Google me, you’ll get 32,000 results, which may be too much. Yet, because I am so prolific with professional posts and sites, the vast majority of my online presence merely reinforces my thought-leader persona.

Yes, you can find my Facebook and Flickr, which have many personal posts, but even they often are ICT4D in theme. Most recruiters would click away satisfied before they could dig deep enough to find any dirt – not that I post anything too crazy online.

I’ve always considered anything online to essentially be public, because I don’t trust anyone’s privacy settings and nether should you.

Good luck!
Wayan