Along that note, as it has been referenced in many articles and even in the news lately…be careful what you post online at personal networking sites such as facebook, friendster, myspace, etc. You would be surprised how many employees are technically savvy enough these days to check these sites to try and get a glimpse into what they may be getting in an employee they are considering hiring. Although your personal life is indeed just that…best to make sure that you don’t let the two intertwine and possible affect getting that next interview or job of your dreams!
My best advice to you is to: 1. Set up a separate email account specifically for your job search. Use this account solely to send our resumes and communicate with recruiters or potential employers. You can get a free email just about anywhere these days (yahoo.com, gmail, com, hotmail.com, etc.). Total bonus that this will help keep you organized in your job search and keep all your correspondence in one place separately from other personal or work related emails.
2. Keep the email address simple! Restrict it to your name or you can even get a bit creative and use key words that describe your career background versus words that may border on being risqué and unprofessional. For example use windowsalesguy@yahoo or johndoe123@yahoo. Keep it simple!
3. Google yourself! It will take you seconds and will possibly save you some heartache down the road from sitting in that final interview and having an employer know a bit too much about you. I am not saying stay away from personal networking sites as they are fun and often a great way to meet new people…yet they should not interfere with your professional life. Just be careful what you post on there. Last thing in the world that you would want would be to have the person who you may soon report to find risqué photos of you on myspace or read the slang terms you write to all your friends on facebook, etc. Aside from that, there is a website out there for just about everything these days for people to publicly complain about anyone…bad neighbor, bad boyfriend, etc. The internet is a vault of information, but what you and others put out there about yourself can all too easily be found by just about anyone!
And, YES, I did google myself prior to writing this post! Ha ha! And phew!
