Reppler Advice « The Reppler Effect

Graduation Time: Get Your Social Networks Job Search Ready

May 8, 2012

Happy graduation month! While there is much to celebrate, most of you are aware that the “next step” clock is ticking away. What lies ahead? What happens now?

According to a recent Associated Press article, 1 in 2 new college graduates are jobless or underemployed. And job opportunities in popular fields, including education, healthcare, fine arts and humanities are in limited supply. The highly competitive job market forces all job seekers, especially recent grads, to step up their game, and social media provides the perfect opportunity to do so.

In Reppler’s recent survey, 91% of employers said they use social networks to screen applicants. Social networks can go beyond the scope of resumes and cover letters, granting employers insights into your personality and character. These insights can help assess your compatibility with both the position and a company’s overall culture. Take advantage! Your personality, achievements and interests need to convince employers that you’re a great fit–and a wise investment.

Unfortunately, for all the benefits social media provides, you can’t ignore its dark side. Everything written or published on the web stays. According to a recent Careerbuilder survey, 34% of hiring managers find negative and inappropriate material on social networks that causes them to eliminate candidates. This material includes, but is not limited to (Hint: This is what you want to avoid!):
·         References to alcohol and drug abuse
·         Sexually explicit photos
·         Derogatory language
·         Bad-mouthing former employers/co-workers

To show our support for new graduates (and, of course, anyone else in search of a job), we’re going to be providing a series of posts around job searching with social media throughout May. Stay tuned to find out what potential employers want to see on social networks, what pitfalls to avoid and which networks to leverage in your job search.

Leave a Comment » | Reppler Advice | Tagged: facebook, job search, LinkedIn, online image, professional reputation, social media, social reputation | Permalink
Posted by heidi279

Your Professional Online Image Has Been Tainted – What Now?

April 17, 2012

Whether you’re a recent graduate in search of a new job, or a working professional looking to take the next step in your career, owning and managing your online image is crucial. As we all know, anything goes online, and the sheer size of the web gives anyone with a connection access your good, bad and ugly, alike.

If you’ve come across negative information about you online, here are steps to help build yourself back up:

1. Know what’s out there, so there are no surprises.
Google your name, and take a close look at the first few pages. Since online screening has become an important part of the hiring process, it’s key to be aware of the information that’s out there about you. If you know what’s out there, you’ll be prepared to address any inquiries.

2. Be upfront and proactive.
If you do end up having to field questions regarding negative online content, take the proactive approach. Be honest about what’s being said and why, and share how you are going to respond.

3. Have it removed (or remove it yourself).
The longer you wait to remove unsavory content, the further it could spread. If you posted something inappropriate on your social media accounts, simply delete it. If someone else posted a negative comment, ask them to remove it. If the other party is unwilling to comply, consider raising the stakes and taking legal action. Also, if the damage to your reputation is substantial, consider a professional reputation management service that will help you remove content.

4. Create your own content.
Many employers will only look at the first few pages after entering your name in search engines. By posting your own content, you can help push down any negative content and showcase your own positive content. Traditional blogs, video blogs and social media profiles rank high on search engines, so create as much positive content as possible. Also, consider deleting unused accounts that might contain outdated personal information.

With vigilance and initiative, negative online content can be resolved. But it’s always a good idea to be proactive–taking steps to ensure that YOU are the one dictating your online reputation.

2 Comments | Reppler Advice | Tagged: job search, online image, personal information search, professional reputation, social media, social reputation | Permalink
Posted by heidi279

Where Does Your Personal Information Live?

March 23, 2012

You’d be surprised to find out how much of your information is out there. Your data lives in hundreds of locations online and may even be sold without your permission. Yet, a lot of people maintain trust and feel confident when searching, buying and socializing online–believing their personal information gets lost in the sheer volume of online transactions that take place on a daily basis.

Your personal information can be found through:

Search people databases such as Spokeo or Intelius
Major search engines like Google, Yahoo and Bing
Social networks such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn
The deep web – the part of the web that cannot be accessed through ordinary search engines

How does your information get there in the first place?

That’s easy. You offer it up. Consider all the things you do online: emailing, shopping, social networking, banking and many more. All of these actions require us to surrender personal and, oftentimes, financial information. It is difficult to always consider carefully where your information goes before sending it into the infinite abyss of the Internet

Here are a few pointers:

1. Check a company’s privacy policy before you sign up for their service. Is it going to sell your information to the highest bidder? If so, think twice before entering your information.

2. If a company doesn’t disclose a privacy policy, don’t provide them with any personal information.

3. Always opt-out when asked to if you are OK with sharing your information with third parties.

We face a serious trade-off between privacy and convenience. Short of never going online, it’s almost impossible to keep all personal information off of the Internet, but that doesn’t mean we have to give up online privacy all together. We just need to make more of an effort to be stingy and vigilant behind the keyboard.

Leave a Comment » | Reppler Advice | Tagged: identity protection, personal information search, privacy, privacy protection, security risks | Permalink
Posted by heidi279

10 Tips to Protect Your Identity on Social Networks

February 27, 2012

Our privacy risks increase, as we are encouraged to provide more and more information online. Identity theft and fraud are some of the more serious consequences of over-sharing, yet most people do little to protect their personal information online. In fact, nearly 13 million people are accepting friend requests from strangers, particularly of the opposite sex, according to a survey by Harris Interactive in 2011.

Most recognize that no one should ever share Social Security and driver’s license numbers, but there is other, less obvious, information that can be used against you in malicious ways. Exposing the following information increases your security risk:

Full name (in particular your middle name)
Date of Birth
Hometown
Phone Numbers
Relationship status
School Location/Graduation Date
Pet names (popular security questions for password recovery!)
Travel/Vacation information

With the serious consequences of “over-sharing” in mind, we put together a Top 10 ways to protect your online privacy:

Review the privacy and security policies of any third party apps (e.g. Farmville).
Don’t offer up sensitive or personal information (see previous list).
Only invite people you know to join your social networks.
Don’t accept friend requests from people you don’t know.
Set privacy settings to only allow friends to see your content.
Never open links from someone you don’t know.
Create unique passwords and user names for all social media accounts.
Make sure you log out of public computers completely.
Use a social media monitoring service like Reppler to help you identify potential security risks.
Google yourself regularly to see what kind of information people can find about you.

Some of these tips may seem obvious, but a lot of people continue to use social networks with little concern for potential dangers. And if these don’t seem like enough, and you want to take additional steps to protect your identity, we recommend signing up for identity protection service from TrustedID to help you monitor all of your personal information.

2 Comments | Reppler Advice | Tagged: facebook, fraud, identity protection, identity theft, privacy, privacy protection, social media | Permalink
Posted by heidi279

Protect Your Professional Image on Facebook Timeline

February 10, 2012

On February 14th, Facebook Timeline will go live for ALL users, signaling a final departure from the traditional Facebook profile. Timeline is a visual aggregation of your Facebook History. From the book you read in 2005 to the movie you watched last month to the song you’re listening to right now, Timeline shares all.

Users need to recognize the risks involved with Timeline. Once you have Timeline, it reveals pictures, status updates and events chronologically from when you first started Facebooking to the present time. This means that people will be able to scroll through your history, potentially discovering posts or pictures you’d rather leave in the past.
Here are four simple steps to help you “clean” your Timeline—so you can continue to convey a positive Facebook image:

1. Make your profile private: Go to Privacy Settings > “How You Connect”. Switch “Who can post on your Timeline” and “Who can see posts by others on your Timeline?” from “Public” to “Friends”.

Go to Privacy Settings > “How Tags Work”. Switch the settings for “Maximum Timeline Visibility” from “Public” to “Friends.”

2. Limit your audience for past posts: Go to “Limit the Audience for Past Posts”. Click “Manage Past Post Visibility”, then “Limit Old Post”. Now, your past posts are visible to your Friends only, even if you initially made them public.

3. Hide or delete posts: Click on the edit button at the top of the content item and choose “Hide from Timeline” or “Delete Post”. You’ll need to click on each month and hide or delete all of those posts individually.

4. Delete posts from other Timelines: Go to “Activity Log”, click on “All” to see all of your posts, comments, likes and events, organized by date. Click on “Your Posts” to see all your posts and comments on other people’s Wall, and delete anything that could be considered inappropriate

5. Monitor your profile: Use a monitoring service like Reppler to ensure that your profile always projects the “you” that everyone from your parents to your buddies to a potential employer should see. Set up your Reppler account so that you will be notified as soon as flagged content shows up on your profile.

If you’ve been on Facebook for a long time, “cleaning” your Timeline can be time consuming. But it’s well worth the effort!

4 Comments | Reppler Advice | Tagged: facebook, online image, privacy, professional reputation, social reputation, Timeline | Permalink
Posted by heidi279

Do You Know Your Audience?

October 11, 2011

On September 27, we launched a new version of Reppler with exciting new features. One of the new features is the Your Networks section of the My Networks page. Your Networks gives you a comparison of your connections across the different social networks you use. In this blog post, we will explain why this is important for managing your professional reputation.

Whether you are a student, currently employed or looking for a new job, creating and maintaining a professional online presence is more important than ever. However, in order to build that professional online presence, your have to know who you are communicating to. Who is the audience of your posts and status updates, and how would you like to be perceived by them? The abundance of social networks available on the web makes it difficult to keep track of who you added on what network. Imagine you forgot that you added your boss or coworker on Facebook, and you just posted about the long weekend in Vegas which you supposedly spent in bed with a fever, or your friends decide to post pictures of your last night out, one of your not so stellar moments.

It takes one bad judgment like that – an unflattering photo, an inappropriate comment or something more serious- and your professional reputation will take a serious hit. Also, keep in mind that the different networks show different sides of you. While Facebook zooms in on your social life and personal interests, LinkedIn emphasizes your professional accomplishments and allows you to make connections with other professionals. You may want your current employer to see your professional side on LinkedIn or Twitter, but do you really want him or her to see your party habits on the weekend? And even if you did not add your boss to your Facebook connections, you might have added one of your coworkers who is secretly showing your employer the inappropriate content on your Wall. It is easy to lose track of all the people with whom you are sharing personal information, so there is a high risk that damaging information reaches the wrong audience.

Reppler’s new Your Network section shows how many network connections you have on each individual network, and it also displays how many connections you have across all networks combined. However, the most valuable information for users to observe is how many connections overlap within their networks. You will be able to see how many of your Facebook friends are also on your Twitter and LinkedIn network or how many of your professional contacts on LinkedIn are also connected to you on Facebook. You now know who you are communicating to, which allows you to better manage your profiles and your connections in order to maintain a professional online image. Take a look at Reppler’s Your Network section, and make sure that next time you post an update on one of your networks, you know exactly who your audience is.

Leave a Comment » | Reppler Advice | Tagged: facebook, LinkedIn, online image, professional reputation, Twitter | Permalink
Posted by heidi279

A Guide for Creating A Professional Image on LinkedIn

September 23, 2011

LinkedIn, the leading professional network on the web, is an indispensable resource for job seekers and professionals. Besides offering unique networking opportunities with professionals from all industries, a LinkedIn profile can help to offset any negative content about you online. LinkedIn has currently more than 100 million users, and its members comprise 170 different industries, and include 130,000 recruiters who use the network to search for potential candidates on a daily basis. Furthermore, all Fortune 500 companies are represented on LinkedIn, so it is a powerful tool that can be leveraged to help you in your job search. Here are some tips on how to build a strong online presence on LinkedIn.

6 Tips for LinkedIn

Your Profile Picture

Your public picture is the first thing people will notice on your profile. Faces are often easier to remember than names, so adding a picture will help others identify you when adding you as a connection on LinkedIn. A clear, up-to-date, professional-looking headshot of you with a clear background is a great way to make a good first impression.

Write a Summary

The summary provides you with an opportunity to show who you are and what you do. Be as concise and specific as possible, but also use it as a tool to engage with people and draw in their attention. Don’t forget to include a catchy headline!

Fill Out the Bio

One of the reasons why LinkedIn is a popular tool among recruiters is that users have to be honest in their Bios, as most of them have previous employers and colleagues in their LinkedIn network. Any lies and exaggerations are easy to catch. Just like in your regular resume, accentuate your strengths and highlights, while providing context around your job responsibilities.

Optimize Your Profile

To get the most out of your LinkedIn resume, you need to include keywords and skills from your resume in your profile. LinkedIn has the ability to search any word in the content, and if you list all relevant keywords at the bottom of the page, it will make it easier for your profile to be found in search results.

Get Recommendations

One of the unique features of LinkedIn is the recommendation section, which gives potential employers the opportunity to read a reference in advance. People with strong references have better chances to be selected for an interview or for a job. Avoid exchanging meaningless recommendations with your friends, and rather focus on quality recommendations from people who have benefited from your work. Ask for benefits and results driven recommendations from people who’ve seen you in action and the best way to get recommendations is to give them, so take the time to write recommendations for some of your contacts, and hopefully they will reciprocate.

Build Your Network Before You Need It

Whether you are currently in search of a job or are just browsing the job market for new career opportunities, having a strong network can be a good form of job security. Don’t wait until it gets rough to build your network! In most cases it is much easier to build a relationship with someone you already know than with someone you just met. Also, keep in mind that networking is not a one way street. It’s not just about what others can do for you, but also what you can do for others. Make the most of your networking opportunities and use LinkedIn as a tool to build a strong professional online image.

Leave a Comment » | Reppler Advice | Tagged: job search, LinkedIn, professional reputation | Permalink
Posted by heidi279

A Guide for Managing Your Professional Image on Twitter

September 16, 2011

Next to Facebook, Twitter is one of the most popular social recruiting platforms with over 100 million active users. If managed correctly, it can be a great tool for building your professional image. You can show off your expertise and engage with industry leaders and companies that you are interested in. By creating a Twitter profile, you have the opportunity to show them just how interested people are in what you have to say, and they will learn about your status in the industry. It will also increase your visibility and add to your credibility as a professional. More and more companies are using Twitter to seek new employees, but there are some common pitfalls users have to be aware off. The following guide provides some tips on how you can create a professional image on Twitter to propel your job search.

6 Tips for Twitter

Become an Expert in Your Field

Use status updates to tweet about industry topics, tips, and advice. Look for key influencers and industry leaders and follow them. If you see interesting material, re-tweet it or try to engage in a discussion. You might not get a response the first time around, but if you continuously contribute meaningful content to discussions, you will eventually be noticed.

Create an Informative Profile

Give concise information as to what you are all about, state a clear purpose and include a professional headshot as your profile picture. Make use of keywords that are applicable to your background and experience in order to catch the attention of recruiters and hiring managers.

Promote Yourself

Post links to your work and don’t be afraid to promote yourself in a responsible, non-annoying way (Don’t blatantly self-promote!). Add a link to your website, blog or LinkedIn account. Your profile’s main link should direct followers to the most relevant and engaging part of your website.

Monitor What Others Say About You

Your success on Twitter is measured by how much you are engaged in conversation, how often your tweets are re-tweeted and how many people are talking about you. You should always monitor what others are saying about you. To monitor yourself, enter your twitter handle (@yourname) in the search box or install TweetDeck on your desktop and then set up a search column for your Twitter handle. All tweets related to you will appear.

Follow the Companies That Interest You

If you already know what companies you would like to work for, ‘follow’ them! Just like with key influencers and industry leaders, try to engage with potential employers by posting meaningful comments and starting discussions.

Locate Job Search Resources

There a lot of resources on Twitter devoted to help users that are looking for new career opportunities. Search out recruiters, ‘follow’ them and don’t be afraid to note in your bio that you are looking for a new job. If you let people know what you are looking for, you’ll find many people happy to help you in your job search.

If you use Twitter effectively and responsibly, it can be a great starting point in your job search. But never forget how important it is to maintain a professional online image!

Leave a Comment » | Reppler Advice | Tagged: job search, professional reputation, Twitter | Permalink
Posted by heidi279

The Do’s and Don’ts of Your Job Search via Facebook

July 27, 2011

Facebook has become more than just a platform to connect with friends and family. Unemployment is high, and more and more job seekers are searching for work in rather unconventional places. Studies show that nearly 25% of job seekers around the world are now searching Facebook for new employment opportunities. With over 750 million users, Facebook provides a great opportunity to make personal and professional connections. However, before you start the job hunt on Facebook, there are a couple of rules that you should follow; otherwise your Facebook profile might actually hurt your chances to find a job. Here is a quick guide on the Do’s and Don’ts of job search via Facebook.

DO’S

Clean up and monitor your profile!

Using Facebook as a tool for your job search requires you to clean up your profile before you start networking with other professionals and companies. While it might be easy for you to control the content of your posts and pictures, you have less control over what your friends are posting on your Wall. By the time you notice inappropriate content on your profile, it might already be too late and a potential employer might see it first. Signing up for a reputation monitoring service like Reppler helps you to ensure that your online reputation stays intact.

Showcase yourself professionally!

Contrary to pure professional networks like LinkedIn, Facebook gives you an opportunity to showcase your professional AND personal interests. While your resume and cover letter only convey your professional skills, your Facebook profile will show off your personality, which for some companies is just as important. At the same time, don’t forget to fill out the Bio and the Work and Education section, as companies will likely look at those first.

Search for company profiles!

Facebook has thousands of company profiles, so make use of company pages that you are interested in by liking or joining their pages. That way, you will get more information about the company, and you might even find information about job openings. Don’t hesitate to participate in discussions to show your knowledge and expertise, but remember to maintain a professional attitude. If possible, engage in conversation with employees from that company.

Join groups/fields related to your industry!

By joining a group with people in the industry that you are interested in, you will get access to like-minded people that you can network with. It also gives you a chance to learn more about your field of interest. Don’t hesitate to share links to articles in your status updates; it shows that you do your research and have a genuine interest in the industry.

Make use of Facebook applications like BranchOut and BeKnown!

Facebook Apps like BranchOut and BeKnown can be used as part of your job search on Facebook. Once you sign up, you will find out who in your Facebook network is connected to the companies that you would like to work for. At the same time, companies and individuals can post job openings for free, which you can share among your friends.

DON’TS

Refrain from angry posts!

Employers look at your Facebook profile to find out more about your personality. Don’t vent online when someone or something upsets you. Potential employers might be hesitant to hire you if the tone of the language on your Wall is constantly negative. Also refrain from using derogatory language or any type of profanity.

Don’t badmouth your current or previous employer!

If you give employers the idea that you will tarnish their image once you part ways with the company, it is unlikely that they will hire you in the first place. Also, if you are currently employed, don’t forget any confidentiality and conduct agreements you’ve signed. If you violate your contract, you might end up jobless while you are hunting for a new position.

Don’t post controversial content or pictures!

Think twice before you post anything that reveals questionable behavior or habits. Avoid pictures that show too much skin (bikinis, underwear), excessive alcohol or reveal your party habits. Make sure that you un-tag yourself from images that others posts if the content is inappropriate.

Don’t be afraid to be creative!

Last but not least, have fun and express yourself responsibly. There are plenty of ways you can create a positive self-image, and if you follow some basic guidelines, Facebook can be a great tool to propel your job search.

2 Comments | Reppler Advice | Tagged: facebook, job search | Permalink
Posted by heidi279

The Reppler Effect

Where Does Your Personal Information Live?

Do You Know Your Audience?

A Guide for Creating A Professional Image on LinkedIn

A Guide for Managing Your Professional Image on Twitter

The Do’s and Don’ts of Your Job Search via Facebook

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