If you haven’t been living under a rock for the past ten years, chances are you have been on the web. Like any other web-savvy person, you’ve probably been joining social networking sites, writing blogs, surfing job postings, tweeting on Twitter, and posting pictures.

Staying connected is great. I started wondering though, how far back does this monolithic stockpile of information go on the internet? The answer is pretty far. You may have forgotten the pictures you posted from your years in college, the scathing article you wrote on healthcare reform, or the off-color joke you posted on your friend’s Facebook wall, but the internet hasn’t. The internet is not only a great tool for job searching – it’s a great tool for employers do to a little digging on you.

On our sister company, Hire EQ, there is a blog post regarding employers who are adding background checking via social networking sites to their recruitment process for open jobs.

If your web trail is expansive it’s a good idea to do some cleaning up before applying for highly-sought after positions. When competition is stiff employers use all resources available to them, including social networking sites, to weed out applicants. Although the practice of digging up information on prospective employees is ethically questionable (and often frowned upon) it’s still done.

It’s simple to do some light clean-up of your history and presence on the web. Before you delve into researching yourself get into the mindset of a recruiter or an employer and ask yourself what they would want to see on the internet about a prospective employee.

Here are some tips to get you started:

1. Go ahead – Google yourself.

OK. So no one wants to admit they have ‘Googled’ themselves but it’s an important step in cleaning up your web trail. You never know what could turn up. For example, photo hosting sites such as Flicker and Photobucket keep images on file for an eternity, even if an account isn’t active.  Flicker, Photobucket, and YouTube make it easy to search for names in tags of photos so do a little research. Blogs also offer a wealth of information and are littered with name dropping. Your search may not turn up something you posted, you could find something someone else posted about you.  If you have a Twitter account you’d be amazed at how easily you can find old tweets and photos, so be sure you check all privacy settings.  Lastly, don’t be slack in your sleuthing. Be sure that you go beyond just the first few pages of Google results to find any information listed about you.  

1. Ensure that your LinkedIn Profile is up-to-date and accurate.

LinkedIn is a wonderful place for employers to find well qualified individuals like you who are in the preventative maintenance and reliability engineering fields. Part of making yourself available to prospective employers is ensuring that you’ve selected “Contact Me” in your options settings. If you aren’t available to be contacted recruiters will pass you by. Also, it’s important to list all of your work history, achievements, and accolades including keywords that will make your profile appear in more search engines. Accuracy is also important – be sure that all of your previous work history is represented accurately and fairly.

1. Separate your personal and professional life on Facebook

Having a personal Facebook page is fine, but be sure to set your privacy settings correctly.  This includes not only who can view your profile, but who can view your photos, friend lists, and wall posts. It is possible for a prospective employee to view pictures tagged of you in an album that hasn’t been properly protected for privacy. Keeping this in mind, weed out any images you are tagged in that are unflattening and keep your wall posts in good taste. Also, be sure that if your Facebook page is personal and that you keep it personal. Avoid accepting friend invitations from people you may not know, coworkers, bosses, etc.

 If you clean up your web trail you will make the available information about you more accurate. Making yourself more appealing to an employer is key, so check your web presence often. And remember, anything you put on the internet will most likely be seen.