I think most students are aware that they should lock down their Facebook profiles when job-seeking, but is that all you should do? I have included a checklist below to help you review your online identity – both to make sure you protect anything private, and to promote your professional side.

It was an Ernst & Young Careers post on Facebook that prompted me to think about this.

Ernst & Young Careers  is not interested in seeing your profiles. It’s not that we’re not interested in you, but we respect your privacy and understand that you use Facebook to socialize with your friends. Even so, do you take steps to keep your e-image clean when job searching? Answer our poll to let us know!

Different recruiters have different practices. Some, like Ernst & Young, state they will not look. Other recruiters state that they do, as they claim it can help them get an idea of how a candidate will fit in, as well as dodge any potential PR nightmares from indiscreet employees. While you might not agree with the ethics of employers ’spying’ on you, most won’t tell you if they are going to check or not. It is down to you to protect yourself and ensure your online footprint is clean and professional.

If you are in any doubt about the importance of this, see this story. A prospective employee’s criticial tweet about a job offer was picked  up right away by another employee. With many firms monitoring their online brand presence, especially on Twitter, your message is likely to be found.

Remember you are looking for more than embarassing photos and risque in-jokes, you should edit/remove anything that conflicts with statements you make in interview or in your application, and anything that makes you sound anything less than the motivated, positive professional you are aiming to be.

Checklist

• Google yourself! Google both your name, and your email address. Sometimes usernames might conceal your identity, but your email address will give it away. Search using Yahoo, Ask and other search engines, and use both .com and co.uk sites too. Sounds paranoid, but you don’t know what your recruiter’s preference will be.
• Try to remember any old identities you may have – AOL, MSN, Myspace, Flickr, Friends Reunited, websites you built… Update them or clear them out. I found an old profile of mine from years ago that stated “I still don’t know what I want to do”. Not an embarassing admission, but one that could undermine my case in interview that I am very much dedicated to this career path.
• Check your anonymous accounts for identifying details. Your blog or Twitter may be under a carefully concealed identity, but if you report back on your course or interviews, or link it to named profiles,  it might be possible to figure out who you are. And once one anonymous identity falls, it may lead to others…
• Add yourself to LinkedIn or Xing. Facebook for professionals. It is a good idea to have a presence. You might not have a lot of work experience to put there yet, but sign up, connect yourself to a few friends and ex-colleagues, and make your profile look complete. That way if an employer is checking up on you, they will see social networking savvy and a professional attitude. You can also put a link to your profile in your email signature as a way for an employer to stay in touch with you if they are a user of the service.
• Facebook – it is quick and easy to just block all access to your profile, but perhaps you might allow a couple of carefully chosen photo albums and a few sections on interests and education to be public. Then if the employer checks up on you, they can see some evidence supporting your application, they will feel they know you a bit better, and it will show them what a nice, well-rounded candidate you are!

If possible, it is a good idea to do this a couple of weeks before making applications. If you see something negative about yourself that you need to request a moderator or website manager to remove, it may take a few days for them to do so. You might also find that material you delete from a blog or Twitter will still appear in search results and third-party applications.