How to manage your personal reputation?

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Try it yourself, type your first and last name on Google and see what appears in the first search results and start a first audit of your digital identity.

Are you visible? Do you like what you see through the prism of the search engine? Does it really reflect who you are now? Is your past interfering with your present? This information partly shapes your personal reputation and your notoriety on the internet.. Would you like to improve this online personal reputation to influence your professional life? Are you ready to set up a plan to manage your personal reputation on the internet?

You’ll never get a second chance to make a great first impression.

David swanson

Why is managing your personal reputation important?

Everyone has a personal reputation, big or small. The image of an individual counts in his sphere of influence, however large or tiny it may be. It is an integral part of its communication strategy.

What people see when they search for you on the internet, and what other people say about you in the press, social media, forums, profiles, videos, has a huge influence on how you are viewed by your professional entourage, your employer, your co-workers, your family, your friends and by the communities in which you gravitate.

A survey found that half of search engine results, following personal research, contain unwanted information.

• Personal information (address, telephone, etc.).
• Information about its companies.
• Social publications, media or referenced forums.
• Identifications by photos of third parties
• negative comments and detractors.
• Identity theft.
• Bad press articles.
• Denigration, defamation.
• Compromising photos and revenge porn.
• etc.

With the development of social networks and the massive indexing of content, the image of an individual has reached a scale that no other generation has been confronted with. Managing your digital communication is essential to spread a positive image.

Everyone, to one degree or another, needs to pay attention to the management and preservation of their personal brand.

• Google controls up to 72% of all traffic search engines worldwide, 93% in France.
• The first page of a Google search with your name attracts 95% of generated traffic by a search.
• 91% of people only see the first page of results search engines to get an idea of ​​a person, a company, a brand …

So you want people to see, when they “Google” you, a search results page filled with links that present you in the best possible way and that truly reflect who you are and what you do.

What are the real impact and influence different content on the personal image?

Negative results are a major concern for individuals. On the other hand, positive, highly visible research results have a real impact on perception, confidence and opportunities; that’s why it pays to take care of your image.

Today, the most glaring harms of a bad image are manifested when looking for a job.

As an agency specializing in digital reputation, we are often called upon by students looking for a job, unemployed people or people in the process of retraining, former managers who return to salaried employment… It is generally during the course of From this period of their career that they begin to worry about their image on Google, and realize that some content can be blocking for an employer.

Each social network used must be secure and not leave your personal data in plain sight. Your presence must be controlled.

Some key figures on the attitude of recruiters

As social media permeates all aspects of our personal and professional lives, what you post can have serious and lasting consequences.

A CareerBuilder study found that recruiters looking for candidates don’t offer the job if:

• The candidate posted provocative or inappropriate photographs, videos or information: 40%
• Candidate posted information about themselves, drinking or using drugs: 36%
• The candidate made discriminatory comments on race, sex, religion…: 31%
• The candidate was linked to criminal behavior: 30%
• The candidate lied about his qualifications: 27%
• The candidate had poor communication skills: 27%
• Candidate has posted negative reviews in the past about their company and colleagues: 25%
• The candidate uses a non-professional pseudonym on social networks: 22%
• Candidate shared confidential information from former employers: 20%
• The candidate lied about an absence: 16%

Some concrete examples of content that could be detrimental in a hiring process

During recent years, our Agency has been called upon on hundreds of issues (right to be forgotten, image rights, delisting, invasion of privacy, etc.) of this type, calling on our skills as cleaners of the net . Here are some examples of content detrimental to a personal image in the context of a job search.

• Photos of student parties visible in Google image for a young graduate.
• Old press articles on a conviction.
• Old references to a managerial job associated with bankruptcy.
• Old publications about union engagement.
• Public Facebook profiles.
• Blackmail and scam on the internet.
• Activities spent in adult entertainment.
• Negative content concerning a homonym.
• Defamatory blogs written by a crow.
• Articles on past political engagements.
• Old interviews exposing outdated positions or a negative image.

What are the benefits of good management of your personal reputation?

Managing your online Personal reputation / Branding proactively opens doors and generates opportunities.

Control your image and secure it

Managing a personal brand is a lot like building a brand and a digital corporate reputation. Why do you want to be recognized? By answering this question you will already have an idea of ​​the image you want to convey and what content you need to achieve this goal.

You will also be able to monitor and correct what may endanger this image.

Generate opportunities

Once people perceive you in a certain way, then reality takes the form of those perceptions. A well-managed personal brand presents you in the best possible way and thus enables you to generate the best opportunities with a visible credible profile and increased confidence.

An exceptional notoriety allows you to come into contact with people or to reach places inaccessible to those who have a negative or non-existent image.

How to protect your digital image?

For an individual who does not have to use the internet to develop his personal brand and his career, the management of his e-reputation must follow a few simple rules and follow these tips and method:

1. Monitor Google regularly: get into the habit of looking at what is found on you on Google. Others do it regularly Check that nothing can harm you. The configuration of Google Alerts is a basic but effective monitoring tool to start monitoring the internet. Learn How to remove unwanted personal information from google?
2. Secure your social networks: you have the right to respect for your private sphere, but be careful that it is not public. Far too many Facebook and other profiles are publicly accessible. Set up your social profiles as much as possible and prevent personal information from being public.
3. Think before posting on the internet: At a time when social networks are becoming a battleground and tolerance is at half mast, avoid exposing yourself under your real identity. Doxing has become a growing harmful activity. Be sure to maintain your anonymity so that your internet activity does not create a nuisance in your real life.
4. Think digital: Google indexes the content. These contents can be duplicated at will. Sending or posting a photo in a private space does not guarantee its confidentiality. You are never really anonymous on the internet. Keeping these truths in mind, you will gradually change your uses and reflect on the possible consequences of your internet use. Here are Cybersecurity Tips To Keep You Safe.

What seems funny to you and without consequences at 15 or 20, may not be so at 25 or 30, moderate your use.

Taking control of what people see when they search for you puts you in control of the narrative. It also protects you from any unwanted or outdated negative content.

Contact a E-reputation Agency to find out how they can help you repair, build awareness or maintain a positive image online. They will help you establish a positive presence based on your goals, choose the platforms suited to your area of ​​expertise, your function, and set up the method to develop your online image.