In today’s competitive job market, hiring managers are not just looking at your submitted resume but also “googling” your name.
What is a digital footprint?
A digital footprint is a trail of data you leave online while using the internet. Now there are times when this is obvious to you, for example when a site asks you to “accept cookies” or when you “check in” on Facebook. But when this happens unintentionally, it’s still legal and just becomes a passive digital footprint.
Your digital footprint is your new resume
You may have noticed in a lot of job applications, that now you are asked to also submit social profiles. This is becoming very common as employers are doing their own background checks before even passing you to the next round.
Leave college students, a lot of people in fact don’t realise how much data trail they have online easily visible with just a quick search. With the rising talent, landing your dream job has never been harder. Companies are becoming more and more particular about the kind of people they hire and preserving the company’s culture. They no longer want to just see how good you are at your work but also get an understanding of who you are as a person and whether you’re a right fit for their company. As the entire world is online nowadays, employers also care about their digital reputation.
So what can you do?
Leverage it! As you finish college and actively seek jobs, make sure your online profiles represent you well and are up to date. Utilise professional platforms like LinkedIn to stand out from the competition and don’t forget to leave an attractive digital trail!
