How To Protect Your Online Reputation

By Brad Graham, Career Counseling Intern at CU-Boulder Career Services

In today’s world, communicating through social media has given us the ability to instantly broadcast our thoughts globally. We can now use Twitter from our smart phones, Facebook from our iPads, and contribute to blogs while flying on airplanes. Many believe that the many pros of these technologies outweigh the cons, but that is only if they are used appropriately.

Growing up, our mothers would say: “think before you speak!”  At least when we were young, this uncensored spoken banter vanished by the time the last word left our mouths.  Nowadays, technology has the ability to record social media content and store it FOREVER. That’s right, anything you say on Twitter or Facebook now can stick with you for the rest of your life.

You may have a polished resume, cover letter and top-notch interview skills, but that inappropriate Facebook picture or infamous blog post you contributed to in a heated rage may eliminate your candidacy for a job. Employers are now using search-engines to find out more about who you are outside of the interview setting. According to a 2009 CareerBuilder.com study, 45% of all employers who conduct background checks are searching the Internet for this so-called “digital dirt.”

             

3 Tips to Protect Your Online Reputation:

1.     Remember who your friends are on Twitter and Facebook. Anyone who is in your network of friends (or even friends of friends) can see or search anything you post. Make sure that you are A) being appropriate with your posts and B) knowledgeable about what privacy settings need to be activated to protect yourself.

2.     Again, when contributing to blogs, be aware that the information that is being shared can be searchable. As a result, experts recommend that eliminating identifiable photos or screen names is a smart move. As always, be careful with what you post. You don’t want your digital-trail of inappropriate comments to come back to haunt you when you’re job searching!

3.     Be careful when “checking in” to certain establishments on your smart phone. Many applications like Four Square now have the ability to locate where you are and push that information to Twitter and Facebook. You may think it’s cool to “check-in” to that bar or club three times in a week, but your future employer might not be so impressed.    

Just to reiterate the message, use social media as if your mother can see everything you post! After all, your future professional success may be hampered by those ill-conceived tweets, angry blog posts or crazy Facebook pictures that you carelessly shot into cyberspace.  Let’s face it, occasionally we all do and say inappropriate things, but we certainly don’t need the whole world and our future employers knowing about it!

10 Things to Leave Off Your Resume

By Kelsey McWilliams, Marketing Intern at CU-Boulder Career Services

Resume writing can be an incredibly daunting task. What experience should you include from before college? Which previous jobs should you include? Is listing your GPA necessary? Read on for 10 things that you should leave off of your resume.

1.     Spelling mistakes and grammatical errors: Your resume is an employer’s first look at you as a job applicant. Make a positive first impression by ensuring that there are absolutely no spelling or grammar errors on your resume. Many employers will immediately disregard resumes that include these critical mistakes.

2.     GPA: Your grade point average is not necessary to include on a resume, but it can be nice. If you have anything below a 3.0 GPA then you should leave it off your resume. If your major GPA is significantly higher, then feel free to list that if it pertains to the job you’re applying for.

3.     Objective: Resume objectives are fairly outdated. In addition, they are mistakenly about what you want when they should be about what the employer wants. Include information about how much you want the job in your cover letter.

4.     False information: Do not lie on your resume. Don’t claim you graduated college if you didn’t; don’t say you still work at a company that fired you; don’t pretend you’re fluent in Spanish if you’re only a beginner. Your employer will inevitably find out that the information is false, so just tell the truth in the first place.

5.     High school accomplishments: Once you’re well into college and beyond you want to take off any mention of high school activities. Even if you have a long list of accomplishments from high school, your more recent experiences are much more important.

6.     Interests and hobbies: As much as you love rock climbing or listening to music, these interests probably are not relevant for employers. If it’s an interest like cooking, which would be applicable for a position as a chef, then make sure to highlight your particular skills, not just your interest.

7.     Your photo: Your appearance is irrelevant to your potential as an employee. Unless you’re applying for a job in modeling, acting or possibly broadcast news, your photo isn’t necessary. Save your photo for your LinkedIn profile or website.

8.     Multiple pages: Your resume should be just one page, so don’t go beyond that. If you need help cutting it down try reformatting, shortening your text, widening your margins or making your font as small as 10 pt. If you’ve been in the industry for a while, a two-page resume is acceptable, but keep it as concise as possible.

9.     References: References should be given only upon request, so there’s no point in mentioning them on your resume. It is implied that you will be able to provide references if an employer asks for them, so save that room for something else. On that note, make sure that you have a few references available in case employers do ask! Refer to our previous post for etiquette guidelines on asking for references and letters and recommendation.

     10.  Fancy designs: Your resume format should be fairly simple; make sure the text is clear and easy to read. Feel free to add some of your own touches, but we strongly advise against pink and scented like Elle Woods’ resume.

Overall, when it comes to resume writing, less is more. Remember: employers spend only a matter of seconds on each resume, so you want them to focus on the most impressive and pertinent information. Leave out all of the fluff, so that you can highlight what is important.

Happy Thanksgiving!

By Kelsey McWilliams, Marketing Intern at CU-Boulder Career Services

Happy Thanksgiving! We hope you’ve all been enjoying the holiday break and spending time with family and friends. Among the many things we should all be thankful for, Career Services has several to add to your list!

Be thankful for...

• 360 active internships on Career Buffs, our online job and internship database. These employers are just waiting for CU students like you to apply for these internships.
• 847 active jobs on Career Buffs. These include temporary, part-time, seasonal, full-time: entry level, full-time: 2-5 years of professional experience, and full-time: 5+ years of professional experience, so be thankful that there are positions for everyone.
• Be even more thankful that these numbers of active jobs and internships on our site are about to increase significantly. Employers are less likely to post during the hectic holiday season, so check back around January 1^st for many more opportunities.
• In addition, be thankful that the job market is improving. According to a CNBC article, 114,000 new jobs were created last month, and the U.S. unemployment rate finally fell below 8 percent. Things are slowly but surely looking up, so take advantage and start applying!

We at Career Services are thankful for you, the students and alumni who keep our office running. We’re open five days a week and eager to help you, so schedule an appointment online or come by our office in the Center for Community, Room N352.