Did you know that 80 percent of employers will Google their potential employees before inviting them in for an interview? This is why it is extremely important to keep your information up-to-date and free of discrepancies. Noelle Williams was recently on FOX 35 to discuss how to look professional and poised on Google. Be sure to check out her segment HERE for some great advice!
Why Companies Google Candidates
Companies tend to head to Google to research potential candidates. What they are looking for is something that is solid, and something that agrees with your resume - such as your LinkedIn profile. If they don’t find sufficient evidence of what you put on your resume, you probably won’t be invited in for an interview.
Interviewing job candidates can be very expensive for an employer. By simply Googling a candidate first, a substantial amount of money could be saved if a candidate is not a fit.
What Companies Find when They Google a Candidate
If you want to know what companies will find when they Google your name, then go ahead and Google yourself! Look at the first three or four pages to see what is visible to an employer about you. Make sure there is something about you on Google. It is not a good sign if there is nothing to be found. This means one of two things: you don’t know how the world works today, or you are hiding something.
How can the Candidate Get Noticed?
Good news is that job seekers can influence what is found in the process. Your participation in your online presence will not only help you survive the Googling, it will also increase your "market value" and the size of your networks.
First, start by Googling anyone well-known and/or well-respected within your career field. What does Google show on the first page of the search results? Most people will have their social profiles show up: LinkedIn, Twitter, Google+ Profile, Visual Resume, Facebook, Amazon, Pinterest, YouTube, Etc. All of these pages are available to anyone at NO COST! Check out our article 4 Reasons Why Job Seekers Need to Be on Social Media, for more ideas on how to make the most our of your social media. Most of these pages are also extremely easy to set up and are very popular with Google. Best of all, all of these pages describe you in your own words because you wrote them. Because they are "public" for the world, including your colleagues and friends, to see, the assumption is that they're probably true.
Sometimes, you’ll run into problems when it comes to Googling yourself. Luckily, you can manage the issue. It takes time to set up and develop, but once you have it will only take an hour or two a week to maintain. Be sure to keep busy working on your public image. It’s not just for movies and TV stars anymore. We are all famous, at least a little, and the sooner you get started managing your public persona, the better off you will be.
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