Great Resumes Fast » Personal Branding » I Have Digital Dirt, Now What?

What is digital dirt? It is anything on the Internet that is unflattering about you. Run a Google search on your name and put your name in quotation marks (i.e. “Kristen Jacoway”). What did you find? Are the results consistent with the personal brand story you want to portray? What if you have the dreaded digital dirt?

A study done by iProspect shows that most people (92%) will not go past page 3 on a Google search. So, the first question is what page is the digital dirt on a Google search? If it appears on pages 1-3, this could be problematic for career management and in a career transition.

Now, ask yourself if you created the content. If so, you can remove it. However, the problem with posting digital dirt (i.e. an unfavorable picture of yourself, a negative comment about a company, etc.) is that retweeting and reposting of the content can occur once you’ve placed it online, thus being spread virally. Once this occurs, you can approach people and ask them to remove it. However, viral spreading of content can get out of hand and it almost becomes impossible to erase it.

I’m such an avid believer in blogging for many reasons. Blogging can help you push some of this digital dirt past page three of your Google results. However, if the content is on a high-ranking site, you may not be able to accomplish it. Blogging can also help in this situation as you can address what happened and the lessons you learned.

Protect your brand. In the age of video and camera phones, it is become increasingly easy for someone to snap a less than desirable photo or video of someone and post it on the web. Again, once it’s up and seen, it can be spread rapidly.

Kristen Jacoway invites you to explore the services offered at http://www.careerdesigncoach.com to propel your career marketing materials in next generation platforms, such as website / blog (proof of performance) development, resumes, personal branding, and social media site.

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About the author

Jessica Hernandez, President, CEO & Founder of Great Resumes Fast

Hi, I’m Jessica. I started this company back in 2008 after more than a decade directing hiring practices at Fortune 500 companies.

What started as a side hustle (before that was even a word!) helping friends of friends with their resumes has now grown into a company that serves hundreds of happy clients a year. But the personal touch? I’ve kept that.

You might have seen me featured as a resume expert in publications like Forbes, Fast Company, and Fortune. And in 2020, I was honored to be named as a LinkedIn Top Voice of the year!

I’m so glad you’re here, and I can’t wait to help you find your next perfect-fit position!

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