Useful Resources

• Advice on Buying a Domain Name
• Checklist for Maintaining a Healthy Digital Identity
• Creative Job Search Strategies
• Enterprise Adoption of Web 2.0: It's Happening
• Guidelines Wanted for Teachers on Facebook
• Job Search Privacy
• Managing Your Reputation Online
• Social Networking for Recruiting
• The Social Media Resume

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• How easy is it to find me on the web?
• How can I increase hits on my name?
• Are my various blogs, websites and favourites linked to each other?

Read the scenario below and consider the above questions. Then, review the Think Before You Ink section to get more information. Finally, check your understanding of how the internet can help you in your job search – at the end of the page.

 






Alex has started a new blog about his career goals and he’s added his profile to professional networking sites: he feels confident that potential employers will get the right impression when they search for him. Now all he needs to do is make sure the right sites come up when somebody searches for his name!






Photo copyright Mr Wright, Flickr.

 






Keeping in mind that employers search for candidates online, here are some tips to ensure that it’s easy and quick to find you on the web. The key is to increase the number of hits for your name so that potential employers find positive and professional information about you.

• Create a profile on professional networking sites such as LinkedIn or Jobster. Companies use these websites to search for candidates who match their needs.
• Create an e-portfolio – include your resume and showcase any impressive projects you’ve worked on
• Create a thoughtful, well-written blog about your career goals or interests. Comment on recent news in the field. Post comments on others’ blogs and use your full name.
• Buy your own domain name if you can. Here’s some advice to get you started.
• Use your full name in the title, header and photo tags on any webpage you create to showcase your professional self (assuming you know HTML code).
• Link to and from various pages within and outside your own website – this will increase your “page rank” (a system search engines use to decide which pages should come up first on a given search query).