A person’s Facebook newsfeed, LinkedIn profile, and Twitter page can tell a lot about them—maybe too much to a potential employer. A Microsoft survey found that 79 percent of U.S. hiring managers have used the Internet to better assess applicants.
Social media users can take actions against certain pitfalls by increasing privacy settings and changing the user name to be harder to find, but My Web Career has came up with a better solution.
The concept is to have people use social media pages to build a network of positive relationships and become a more attractive candidate. Their services will inform the user of where they currently stand on their 350-850 scale and give them suggestions to improve their score. The career score is based off My Web Career’s sophisticated data discovery and a scoring engine. Here are the main categories up for review:
- Your Network: How well connected and respected are you?
- Your Profiles: Your Professional Online Brand
- Your Search Results: Your Internet Search Footprint
Essentially, these sites can serve as an online resume—as well as a validation of the facts. A resume will say where someone worked, but the Facebook or LinkedIn page will show the network connections with the people who are part of the company.
The search result score goes beyond the network connections and can validate that a person’s list of employers matches a Google search of their name—hopefully revealing the company or the person’s contributions. Applying privacy settings as stated earlier and removing inappropriate posts or tweets will improve the score of the profile.
Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter represent more than just a list of friends. The evolution of social media puts even more of an importance on maintaining a positive web persona.
