Looking for that elusive job? Read our tips on how graduates should use the internet to secure it....

I use the internet every day - obviously, or how else would I do my job? If you're reading this, you're also an internet user and hopefully realise how important the online world can be...

Roy Murphy is the co-author of a new book, Personal Reputation Management: making the internet work for you. He's a branding expert and creative director at a digital agency, and he knows all about the internet. He also knows how to use it to your advantage, especially if you're looking for that elusive first job.

Over to Roy:

"Picture the scene. It’s June, hats are being thrown in the air with impunity, rivers are being jumped into and carnage is afoot in Cambridge. Yes, it’s the time of year again when freshly minted graduates pop perfectly out of the academic machine, not a day over 21 and the world at their feet.

Traditional student thinking used to go something like this ‘Cool, the hard work is over and now for a leisurely summer, sunbathing in the afternoon, mornings watching cable TV and a house party every night’ (actually, I’m not sure they have graduated, come to think of it)

A big clunking recession has put paid to all that and today’s graduate is turfed out into the harsh light of economic reality quicker than you can say ‘I’m bunking off applied programming to get Sky+ installed’ But there is something that can be done, it is not all doom and gloom and we are not going to employment hell in any handcart (not today anyhow) No siree. Not if a little known technological advance that’s all the rage has anything to do with it.

And the name of this saver of graduate career prospects? The Internet. Some might consider the internet to be a place to stick up pictures of a drunken night out and find the odd picture of a cat playing the piano. But in reality, the internet is the place employers are already using to sift through prospective hires and their suitability for employment. Through researching candidates through the major search engines - Google, Bing and Yahoo - and the social media networks, including twitter and facebook, jobs are being filled everyday.

What prospective young professionals need to do is protect and promote their online reputation and make it easy for employers to find the right information. By using simple tools and taking advantage of the technology that they have grown up with over the last 10 years, individuals can give themselves a great chance to stand out from the crowd. In doing so they can gain a distinct advantage over those whose are not using the internet to promote themselves and have online profiles that are incomplete, out of date, feature inappropriate content or even a profile that has been hijacked by someone else.

Take these basic steps to promote and protect your online reputation

• Where to start? Find out if you exist online. Do a Google search, see if your name appears and whether positive or negative content is associated with it. 

• Do a reputation audit of your current online status. Write down every online network or blog you belong to. Look at your profile in those networks, what does it show? Is it mostly personal conversations with friends, if so would you be happy for a prospective employer to see those conversations?
 
• Use privacy settings on facebook and set up two profiles. Continue to use your personal profile for informal conversations and your professional profile to outline your achievements, aims and objectives, career goals, and mission statement.

• Start a blog. This is crucial. It is free and quick to set up a basic blog and will help you to have a ‘central’ presence on the web. Your blog can act as your job hub. Use it to outline your approach to getting a job or to tell the story of your job hunt, don’t forget to update it regularly. Use free blog software such as www.wordpress.com or www.blogger.com  to set it up.

• Set up a Twitter account and a LinkedIn account, using your name or a variation of it. These are the most professionally minded social networks, joining and interacting will help make you visible online quickly. www.twitter.com www.linkedin.com

• Develop a written online elevator pitch. This is a 30 word summary of who you are and what you do. Add this to your email signature for any jobs you are applying for. Add it to your blog sidebar.

• Use a cheap webcam to record your elevator pitch, set up a YouTube channel for your job hunt. Use several short videos to outline who you are, what you can offer, why you are a forward thinking, tech-savvy candidate.

• Set up a Google alert to track companies you may want to work for, or to keep abreast company executives  www.google.com/alerts.

• Ask friends to remove any negative images, videos, or other content relating to you. Explain the reasons why and do the same for them.

• Use twitter search everyday to check on real time events in the job market, to track openings at your target companies or to see what to narrow down real time jobs and opportunities by location or interest area. http://search.twitter.com

• Find the blogs that are relevant to your preferred job area and comment on them, leaving your email address, web link and the short summary of what you have to offer a prospective employer.

• To be really proactive spend a small amount of money on a Google adwords campaign ensuring you appear in the sponsored listings, before a round of interviews. When your prospective employer does a search on your name - Bingo. This gives a great talking point about being pro-active and forward thinking at the interview itself.
 
• Lastly, ensure you do not give away too much personal detail online. Cyber-theft, ID fraud and phishing scams are all very real threats to your online identity. As in all things online, tread carefully, do your homework and if someone or something seems too good to be true, it probably is.

With just a little thought there is a whole world of possibilities to help you get noticed and get ahead, most of them are completely free and only need a little time to put in place. There are plum jobs out there; those who are willing to promote their professional online reputation will best placed to grab them."

Read School Gate:

Applying for university: how important is your personal statement?

Yes, exams are getting easier - or so says this student

Tips for students on getting a job

 

Comments

[Tara@RB]

It is really interesting how the job search has changed since (cough) my day!
I am actually working with a big global company on this very issue of reaching out through the internet to show new talent what is available to them, what sort of jobs are available and what they can expect from the company. They are doing all of this through blogging, Facebook, Twitter etc.
So it is most definitely a place to use for your job search - if employers are using the internet, then so should you be.

[Another mum]

Agree absolutely about not having stupid drunken photos readily associated with your name on a google search ... but in addition to these steps (and yes, this repeats comments on another thread) if you want a decent job, SPELL EVERYTHING PROPERLY.

Don't rely on the computer spell-check. If you are not good at checking CVs etc on-screen (and lots of people aren't, me included) print it off and look at it carefully the next morning.

I'm amazed at how many serious, well-qualified job applicants litter their application forms with typos they haven't noticed.

It may not have mattered at school, but it really matters in the real world.

[BrookeBrown]

Technology has taken over the world. Now the best way to find a job is the internet. We have created a way to help you do just that.

http://www.resumebucket.com is a completely free website that lets you upload your own personal resume and give you your own personal URL (http://www.resumebucket.com/joshstomel)

It also let's thousand of employers search your resume and chance to contact you. It is one more tool in the search for a job.

ResumeBucket is the simple way to get your resume online!

Upload your resume instantly for free,
Share your resume with a unique URL,
Get connected with experts in your industry,
Control who sees your resume with password protection.

Check it out.... http://www.resumebucket.com

[Colin Haywood]

BrookeBrown - that site is American. Not much use to British graduates looking for jobs...

[Matt]

brookebrown clearly isn't that bothered by spelling mistakes either (let's thousand...???)

[Richard Morgan]

Wrote a very similar article for my own blog - www.remitresources.co.uk/blog outlining the new rules of job hunting.

I agree with your comments Roy, would also add that a personal website is essential. Here you can centralise all of the information about you, link to your blog, social media sites and outline your personal philosophy.

This can be developed cheaply (If you haven’t got the skills to do this how about www.elance.com )and is a great point of reference for future employers.

One final thing, buy your own domain name (I know lots of them have gone but there will be a variation), again relatively inexpensive and if you have a website helps you get found!

[Alexandra]

Very good article indeed.

[barclay]

yyh

[Liam]

no way will i post this information online.

All you need is a sinister mind and low and behold, you become "cloned" with 100 mortgages and debt coming out of your ears!

[Abdul Khan]

Hi TARA@RB,

Care to share who this global company is? I'm sure the times wont mind a shameless plug as you are promoting newtalent, I wouldn't mind being promoted... Tweet me @abdulkhan or search khanabdul on facebook and linkedin

[Louise]

That's all great. Except I've done most of things. I'm also sitting with 2 degrees at First Class level. Still can't get a job.

[Drisloou]

What utter anglo-saxon sycophancy....

[Victor]

I've just found a great teaching job at www.schooljobsearch.co.uk

[Roy Murphy]

Louise, drop me a tweet at @roymurphy if I can help further I'd be more than happy to offer.

[Roy Murphy]

Good advice Richard, buying your own domain name (or variation) shouldn't cost more than the price of a couple of rounds.

[Tara@RB]

Hi Abdul
Company is Reckitt Benckiser (they make Dettol, Vanish, Nurofen etc)
You can find them on Twitter: @discoverRB and the blog is at www.myrbopportunity.com