Do you know what is posted about you on the Internet?  Worried your’re missing opportunities?  Contact us today for your Reputation Report Card!

Major opportunities are often lost due to online search results and social media posts!

Meeting someone in person isn’t so much a first impression as it is your chance to confirm or refute what you’ve already found online. People are Googling all the time and making critical decisions based on what they find.  

If you’ve ever Google-searched a peer, partner, prospective employee, or that one actor who somehow makes an appearance in all of your favorite shows, then you know how important it is that the results are accurate. (How else will you ever figure out who that actor is?)

And if you’ve ever searched your own name — this is a safe space, so you can admit you’ve done this at least a few times — you probably feel like the accuracy of those results is even more critical.  did you know…

• Seventy-five percent of HR departments are required to research a candidate online before making a hire. Whether you’re actively managing it or not, your online reputation is becoming an important part of the hiring process. Seventy percent of employers have rejected candidates based on information they found online, and 85 percent say positive information has influenced them to make a hire.

• Ninety percent of executive recruiters Google candidates before making a hire. And the number is even higher for executives: Eighty-two percent of executive recruiters report that a candidate’s job prospects improve when positive information is found online, while half of them have eliminated an executive job candidate because of information they found publicly available on the internet.

• Sixty percent of employers screen candidates via social media. This number is rapidly increasing — from 52 percent just last year and 22 percent in 2008. Employers are scanning social for red flags: 46 percent were turned off by provocative or inappropriate photographs, videos, or information; 43 percent by evidence of a candidate drinking or using drugs; 31 percent by bad-mouthing of previous company or fellow employee; and 29 percent by poor communication skills.

• Forty-two percent of U.S. adults online who look someone up do so before doing business with him or her. Forty-five percent said they have found something in an online search that made them decide not to do business with the person, and 56 percent have found something that solidified their decision to do business with that person.