Your online identity can come back and haunt you, especially when you are applying for a job.

Recruiters nowadays routinely scan social network websites and google the employee’s name. And the web never forgets. Thus you should pay special care to maintain a pristine online-reputation. Here’s a few guidelines how to do it.

1. Don’t use your real name or real e-mail address when publishing to the web. Unless you want your name associated with the content. This includes posting to web discussion boards and in chats of any type.
2. Inform your friends and relatives that you don’t want them to publish any private pictures with you on them to any public websites. Especially those photos where you were drunk at the pool party.
3. Question everything you are about to publish on the web. Be especially critical about posting politically incorrect content.
4. Do your own web searches using your name and try to find negative entries with your name on it. If you find any, you can ask the uploader or webmasters to remove these.
5. If this does not work you can also try to add more comments to make yourself appear in a more positive light.

Following these 5 rules is not difficult. But be consistent and always vigilant. We all come home drunk sometimes and find that slightly racist joke hilarious.

But others might not.

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