Knowing Where You Stand

Your resume and cover letter creates your first impression to your potential employer and the hiring managers know this too. Everyone strives to ensure that they give off a strong first impression but it is important that your complete story is positive and helpful to a new organization. This is why it is recommended to do some research on yourself so that you can see what a hiring manager will learn about you. Try turning your browser on in incognito mode so that you can see what an anonymous person can see about you.

An easy place to start is with social media. We all have a variety of different social media platforms that we use and the majority of us have not curated our posted content. You must ensure what is visible to the world is professional and positive.

Next, move to a search engine and search for yourself. This will give you an idea of what newspapers and articles exist that refer to you. Although you have less control over what comes up it is important to be aware of what others will be seeing. If you don’t have an online presence this may also cause some questions for a hiring manager.

It is also critical that your accessible content is current and relevant. There may be resources and online references with contradicting information whether it is on different hiring websites or old accounts that are no longer in use. Just like a resume or cover letter all of the content should be delivering a clear united message with valid information.

Researching yourself as though you were the hiring manager can shed a light on insights if you are being honest with yourself. This is a great exercise to allow for an unbiased look at your attributes and skills. Based on the information you have found about yourself would you consider calling yourself in for an interview?