Smaran secures an interview opportunity at his dream company and manages to impress his interviewers who promise him a corner office and a hefty paycheck along with the best employee benefits one could ask for. But he never receives this offer through the mail and gets disqualified for the job despite being an overachiever due to his talents and hard work.
What could have gone wrong?
Well, apparently the interviewer has come across one of his Facebook comments from 3 years ago which have been lingering forever in the electronic ether – where he’s found portraying his mentor in a bad light. And let’s not even talk about the bad grammar used!
Should he have googled himself? Yes! and then should he have deleted those comments? Double Yes!!
Reputational Pitfalls in the Age of Social Media
Everyone loves a good fall from grace story, in fact the popularity of a particular rumor is directly proportionate to how hot or juicy it is. Hence, it’s no surprise that any scandalous gossips or rumors end up getting discussed or published in India Today, Times Now, NDTV and CNN News 18. A few decades ago, the mistakes you committed during your yesteryears were either locked up with your friends or at the worst tucked away in a report at the police station. But now thanks to the internet and social media, your digital footprint is easily accessible to anyone and everyone. While you may not end up in any of these news channels, keeping an eye and managing your online personal reputation is very critical.
Facts: Did you know?
- In Microsoft’s survey, four out of 10 hiring managers said they’d rejected an applicant because of inappropriate comments written by colleagues, friends, or relatives.
- 49% of a company’s reputation is attributable to the business owner or CEO
- In a survey of 1,000 U.S. adults, 20% found inaccurate information about themselves online
Benefits of Personal Online Reputation Management
Managing your personal reputation will fetch you better opportunities in life by increasing credibility, improving trustworthiness, and protecting you from ever finding yourself in a reputational crisis. Let’s check out how these benefits work in-depth:
- You define your reputation: Just like how a brand image is built around its products/services and target audience, you as an individual can control how you would like to be perceived, the kind of people you want to be associated with and define your life on your terms. Defining and building your personal brand and reputation is like setting up your personal style which includes the way you set your hair, smell, and dress.
- Security: A good personal reputation helps you with a secure job, friends, partners plus a good social status; thus, resulting in financial security in the long run.
- Upward mobility: A good reputation can allow you to network with people who have power, influence, and get you into places which cannot be accessed by individuals who carry a negative reputation.
How to Manage and Build a Positive Reputation
- Social media sites: Claim your profile and username on all social media sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram, Twitter and purchase a domain name that matches your name or is close to, using internet domain registrar’s like GoDaddy.
- Sustain your presence: The things you do, say or post on social media platforms directly impact your visibility. Here 2 things are very important – how present you are and what you’re saying. You can control the narrative of your search results by becoming a thought leader in your industry; with the help of consumer insights tools, social listening, and media monitoring platforms – you can position yourself by analyzing the trends and your competitors.
- Use SEO skills: With the help of SEO friendly content strategy, you can push positive/neutral content to the top, thus burying negative content. This is especially helpful when you cannot delete negative content about yourself on your own.
- Ask for recommendations and endorsements: A professional social media platform like LinkedIn not only allows you to highlight your skills, certifications, courses completed, and awards received but also consists of features like endorsements or recommendations. Request your peers/colleagues/managers to endorse or validate your skills as this will speak for your credibility for future job prospects.
- Control your Privacy: Control the amount of information that’s visible about you and ensure to delete, hide or untag yourself from posts and comments that might not be appropriate.
Fixing one’s personal reputation is not easy, but AiPlex is equipped with the right set of technology, tools and possesses a talented pool of people capable of developing personalized strategies to mitigate threats from multiple angles. If you’re looking for a comprehensive personal online reputation management plan, please drop us a line.
