How To Manage Your Digital Footprint To Get Better Job Opportunities

Whether we like it or not, our digital footprint is already serving as a background check tool. In an increasing trend, 52% of employers already use online checks before they make a final hiring decision. There are a growing number of digital signals online which paint a pretty accurate picture of ourselves. As a famous research showed - an analysis of 300 of your Facebook ‘likes’ gives an accurate personality assessment than how well your wife knows you. Your ‘digital footprint’ consists of both explicit and implicit signals: achievements, tweets, blogs, ‘likes’, and other content that you “post” online. Many are personal and some related to the areas of your expertise, but inevitably what is out there affects your job prospects. You may be hesitant to grow and manage your digital footprint citing privacy intrusions or you think it’s not for recruiters to scrutinize. However, if you ignore your online footprint, you may be edged out by others who do manage their online footprint better. Don't squander your digital footprint, own it! So, instead of wasting the power of your digital footprint, you should own it and tap into its potential. Follow these simple rules to leverage your digital footprint to boost your career prospects:

1. Find the gap between your online footprint and your career interests

Do your online profiles and content speak effectively about your skills, knowledge and interests? Get an overview of the skillsets you have demonstrated online and check if it matches the types of jobs you are targeting. If not, start writing, tweeting and sharing.

2. Take actions to improve your skills

It is important to demonstrate that you are active in improving your skills and growing your knowledge. You can do so by:

• Joining online communities and participate in discussions
• Attain certifications and enroll in online courses
• Being more active in social media by posting content in your focus area
• Write articles and blogs and answer questions on platforms like Quora
• Get rated for projects on freelancing portals like Upwork

3. Show skills effectively to recruiters

Make it easy for recruiters to see your key skills. If you proactively show your positive digital footprint to your employers, you have higher chances of getting the call. Professional reputation management tools like Zyncd can provide a credible way to make a case to recruiters as to why you are the best candidate.

4. Showcase more than just content and skills

Not just content, but any effort you make towards improving your skills or knowledge should be well communicated on your profiles. For instances, be sure to mention public presentations, speeches, trainings, awards, books and journals you read in your focus areas, events you attended and so on.

5. Separate professional from private life

Keep your real name on professional networks where you contribute with skills and knowledge. However, for private hobbies such as searching for UFOs, you might want to use a pseudonym. Also, delete tweets with profanities and use the privacy settings on Facebook to hide your party images. I foresee a world where we can use all the professional contributions online as an asset for online reputation management and skills showcase. The web serves as the mass reference check for the gig economy, for better or worse. You better be ready to play according to these new rules in order to succeed in the growing gig economy. Simon Schneider, CEO of Zyncd.com