A bad online reputation can derail students’ career goals

Online reputation and career goals

While there is certainly more to college than academics, most students hope to land a good job after earning a degree. Before they graduate, many of these individuals may even take a career test so they know what kind of work would best suit them. However, no matter how prepared individuals are for the post-college job search, what they have posted on their social media profiles has the potential to derail their professional goals.

Abine, an online privacy company, recently conducted a survey of 503 students from the class of 2013 to gain insight into their attitudes toward their social media pages. Based on respondents' replies, not many of them are thinking about how their online presence could affect their chances of achieving success in the job search.

According to the results of the survey, only 16 percent of students are taking steps to improve their online reputation. Of the individuals who use Facebook, 49 percent have changed their privacy settings to prevent inappropriate content from being posted without their approval. This could become a problem as these individuals start applying for jobs.

"The reality is that your online presence plays an increasingly large role in whether you are considered for a job, and candidates who don't take that seriously may jeopardize their job searches," said Keith Cline, the principal at Dissero, LLC., a recruiting firm.

No comments yet.

Leave a Reply

Interactive Testing