Your Online Image

1. Your Online Image Clean it up Showcase your best qualities

2. People are watching… • According to CollegeJournal, a division of the Wall Street Journal, 75% of recruiters used search engines to learn about applicants. • 26% of these recruiters eliminated people based on what they learned. General research on colleges shows that although admissions staff don’t investigate every applicant, they may search when they are down to a handful and need to make a choice.

3. Please also consider… • If you ask a teacher or other individual to write a letter of recommendation for you, they are joining their credibility with yours if they agree. You will want to represent a consistent, positive image in a letter, on the Internet, and in person.

4. Imagine you’re a college recruiter… • Do you want this person for your campus? What might be a better picture to use?

5. Consider you’re an employer… “ name deleted, you're a racist! You're such a desperate woman! Your arrogance made you the most hated housewife in the world today!” Found on blogspot.com What might you think about comments such as these if you learned they were made by a job applicant?

6. Clean it up-Step One Determine your online image 1. search various search engines to see what hits your name receives 2. Review social networking sites such as Facebook and myspace. Other people may write about you or post pictures that include you in a way you do not wish to be portrayed.

7. Clean it up-Step Two • Sign up for alerts at various search engines. • For example www.google.com/alerts will require an email address and then you will be notified of updated information on phrases provided by you.

8. Clean it up-Step Three • If you find unflattering materials, you can request that they be removed. • If you ask a friend to take down items you no longer want viewed, he or she will hopefully consider cleaning up their own digital dirt. • You may not want a future school to read the comments you made after a poor grade or bad day at school.

9. Reputation Defender • Reputation Defender is a service that will seek out and work to remove unflattering content about you. • It is a fee-based service, so be careful of what you post to the web! You don’t want to have to pay to clean up the mess!

10. Remember Rarely, if ever, is material from the Internet actually deleted. You can take a picture down, but you don’t know how many times it has been copied and pasted. Did you know? The Internet Archive is regularly archiving snapshots of the Internet to preserve them as history.

11. Showcase your best Consider highlighting • community service • school spirit • awards and honors Bury the negative information in a mountain of wonderful material.

12. Showcase your best • Consider creating an e-portfolio that includes your academic achievements, club or sport participation, and/or your interests and aspirations. • This way, you can present what you wish to share on your own terms.