If you have been desperately looking for a job for the last few months but keep coming up with no luck, then it may be time to start looking at what the reason may be. The latest ‘trend’ that potential employers are following, is a Google search on anyone that has applied for a job at their company, this will happen before they even invite you for an interview.

Dan Schawbel who is the author of ‘Me 2.0’ says that ‘your first impression isn’t made with a firm handshake – it is made with a Google search.’ Don’t fall into the trap of making yourself unemployed because of what you have on show on your Facebook page.

Tidy Up Your Pages

If you search your own name, some of the first pages that come up will be Facebook or Twitter if you use them. This will obviously be the same for potential employers; don’t let them be put off by what they see on these sites. To help protect yourself, you should opt to have the highest privacy settings on social networks; this will hide all your information from random people looking at your profile.

It is advised that you should remove any inappropriate statuses or tweets; this may include complaints about work, managers, colleagues or past jobs. You should also keep any photos that are regarded as ‘inappropriate’ (drunk photos or nights out) hidden from people who are not your friends on these sites.

Improve Your Online Reputation

It is now said that the internet is a new form of communication, so communicate with your potential employers online. Potential employers will be looking for someone who has a keen interest in that sector of work, you can express this interest by following other companies in this certain sector or maybe even start a blog in your own time.

This will all add up to creating a better online presence.

Keep Private Information Private

Don’t share all your private information on these social networks; potential employers may then view you as untrustworthy or a bit of a gossip. You should stay as professional as possible on these networks.

You should avoid posting about private relationships, arguments and job offers.

Friends

If you constantly have friends spamming inappropriate content on your social network sites, you may want to consider removing these friends or ask them to stop spamming your sites. Potential employers may view you to be the same as your friends if they are constantly doing it to you, which will put you in the bad books straight away.

Kerry works as a business solicitor in Worcester, she likes to share advice with others. For more information on your employment rights, go to http://www.smesolicitors.co.uk/