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When you’re planning to pursue a promotion at your current job or to look outside to apply elsewhere, this is a time when a company will look into your background. An existing employer probably has already done this, but it could be some years ago if you’ve worked for them for a while already. Also, when applying for a new job, you’ll certainly get checked out, even if it’s just a basic five-second Google search.
Managing your online reputation is essential to avoid hiccups when pursuing advancement. A company doesn’t have to give a reason why they didn’t award you with the promotion or give you a job offer. So, it’s important to control your reputation carefully to avoid issues in the first place.
Here are some tips on how to do that.
Getting a Background Check on Yourself
To see what companies are likely to learn if they run a background check through a company like SecureForensics.com, you really have to order your own.
Only when you can see what others see will you understand if there are any issues. While you might think you have a clean background, you never know what they will dig up that someone said once upon a time, that you never knew anything about. In these days of gossipy social media channels, you just never know!
Credit Checks to See What Your Report Looks Like
A credit check provides a score from a credit scoring bureau like Experian. It will also detail the financial accounts that you have open presently and possibly recently closed accounts. It also highlights any court judgmentson your name and bad debt issues generally. If you’ve been having trouble with money, then a credit check is going to reveal that.
Not all companies run a credit check. Usually, they will inform you before they do so. It may or may not be a requirement of working for the company or to work in that particular department or role. For instance, when working for a financial institution or the accounting department of a company, a credit report is oftenrequiredand is then repeated annually to check for changes. A bad report could mean no job or losing your existing one, depending on its severity.
Researching Yourself Online
Potential employers taking on full-time staff will almost always run a few Google searches to find your details. They’ll pour over your Facebook account and tweets and take a good look at your Instagram images and videos too.
What they’re looking for are signs of potential problems. This might be indicators of excessive drinking during the working week, as documented by Instagram photos or archived video clips, unwise comments made on Facebook, or something they turned up on a Google search.
Managing your online reputation is important. It avoids you losing out on an opportunity because something online about you or posted by you turns off a potential (or current) employer. As more of our daily lives are disclosed online than ever before, it’s necessary to be more careful about what we reveal for public consumption.
