Go Google Yourself

I read an article on Forbes.com about using social media for your job search. It was good and it mentioned many of the things we've talked about such as using key words, not blasting your resume, being specific to your skills, etc. What caught my eye was something I haven't done as often as I should and that is to Google or Bing yourself weekly. You'll be either delighted, disappointed or upset at what you'll see. Your LinkedIn profile is there as are your Facebook, Twitter and any other accounts you may have. You might also see your donations to political groups, your college or other public listings.

Last year I had a MySpace account because I wanted to comment on some of the songs my son had written and posted (good mom!). I entered my age, location, basically everything it asked for to find out that all that information was listed in Google. Yikes! I didn't want to whole world to see my age or my motherly comments to my son. I immediately went into MySpace and cancelled my account. It took a few days to go away.

Needless to say, clean up all your accounts including pictures and language and stay away from taboo subjects in your messaging. You never know what will come up.