Sometimes it’s easy to forget that our online presence can impact a hiring manager’s decision to hire us or not. Maintaining a professional presence online reflects our personal brand and can positively impact our ability to land a position. Alternatively, an unprofessional online presence can negatively impede our ability to be hired.

To help ensure your online presence will not negatively affect your chances of landing your dream job, the Luxe Staff team have compiled a brief list of helpful tips to help you maintain a professional online presence.

1. Ensure your online presence is private or work appropriate.

2. When applying for a position, it is recommended to use a professional email address that includes your first and last name. Hint: [email protected] or [email protected] are not professional email addresses and can leave a hiring manager questioning your professionalism.

3. Before applying for a position, check to ensure your LinkedIn profile matches your resume.

4. Ensure your first and last name is capitalized in your email account settings. For example, when someone receives your job application email in their inbox, your name appears as “Jane Doe”, not “jane doe.”

5. Check your online presence by searching your name in an internet search engine (i.e. Google). Depending on what you find, you may or may not need to alter or eliminate some of your previous online footprint.

6. When possible, ensure your name appears on your caller ID.

7. Verify your voicemail is appropriate and includes your name. A hiring manager does not want to be wondering if they left a voicemail for the correct person.

8. When using a photo on a publicly accessible site, social media forum or application, ensure the photo is appropriate. Pictures holding a glass of wine or skateboarding can be cool but do not always leave a favourable impression in the professional realm.

Maintaining a Professional Online Presence