Research confirms online reputation increasingly important

Do you worry about your online reputation? It seems many of us don’t – but we should.

Research carried out by Microsoft recently highlighted just how powerful the internet can be in terms of affecting how job-seekers, companies and consumers are perceived.

Stark findings from the study of 2,500 consumers, HR managers and recruitment professionals in the US, UK, Germany and France include:

• 63% of consumers surveyed are concerned that online reputation might affect their personal and/or professional life, yet less than half even consider their reputations when they post online content.
• Fewer than 15% of consumers in any of the countries surveyed believe that information found online would have an impact on their getting a job and yet
• 70% of surveyed HR professionals in US, and 41% in the UK, have rejected a candidate based on online reputation information, however, on the up-side:
• 86% of HR professionals (and at least two thirds of those in the UK and Germany) stated that a positive online reputation influences the candidate’s application to some extent with almost half stating that it does so to a great extent.

The take-out of all this? Reputation rules. It opens doors or slams them shut. If you’re concerned about an online reputation that may be less than flattering Microsoft’s ‘Protect your online reputation’ guidelines provide sound advice, including:

• Safeguard your personal information. A basic strategy to avoid identity theft and online fraud is to keep your personal information private when you go online. Be equally careful about sharing information offline, and be sure you know how organizations will use your information before you give it to them.
• Use privacy settings. Most social networking and photo-sharing sites allow you to determine who can access and respond to your content. If you’re using a site that doesn’t offer privacy settings, find another site.
• Don’t mix your public and private lives online. Use different e-mail addresses for different online activities to help keep your public and private lives separate.
• Choose your photos thoughtfully. Whether you’re a child or an adult, make sure potential colleges or employers can’t search the Web and find photos that make you look irresponsible.
• Watch your language and content. You should always assume that anyone can read anything you’ve written online.
• Take action. If you find information about yourself online that is unflattering, embarrassing, or untrue, contact the Web site owner or administrator and ask them to remove it. Most sites have policies to deal with such requests.

If you don’t already have a positive online reputation, create one by becoming a member of LinkedIn, TRUSTcite, Facebook or other easily accessible sites. Just remember to manage your content wisely!