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The University's Director of Employability and Careers, Tom Banham, looks at some of the ways by which you can enhance your online reputation:
The web is a surprisingly indelible thing. Yes, webpages might die as the years go on, but morsels may still linger in web archives and search engine caches. Newspaper appearances, work staff profiles, publications, registries, social media activity… you will have left your mark in some small way or other: information about you is almost certainly on the internet, somewhere. It’s pretty inescapable.
That accepted, what can you do to make as benign or as positive as possible this ‘digital footprint’ that you (or others on your behalf) have left behind? Our Director of Employability and Careers, Tom Banham, looks at some of the ways by which you can enhance your online reputation.
Other people will be sticking your name into a search engine, be they prospective employees, prospective colleagues, or new acquaintances. So you might want to check what they're likely to see!
You can also stick an "@" sign in front of a Google search-term to restrict your search to social media.
Take a look at the images that come up for your name too. Are you on there? Are you in good company?
It might be worth using Google Alerts to set up a regular search and monitor your online identity!
Many resources are available to help you create and maintain a professional online presence.
What are you doing and thinking right now?
Would you share that information publicly on the internet?
In the video above, Dr David Beer talks about the concept of “confessional media”, an environment in which we are encouraged to share things about our private lives in public spaces.
It can be tempting to use this confessional media to unload our thoughts and feelings into a public space where others can offer advice, encouragement, and sympathy. This can have obvious positive outcomes, but it also offers a complex idea of privacy that requires us to make choices about just how confessional we are.
A digital footprint is your online identity and individuality. It is your online reputation, and employers will use it to gain a first impression of you. In these slides, Careers and Placements offer some tips on where employers are looking and how to make an impact with your footprint.
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