Tips for Managing Your Online Identity/Presence 

Your online presence can impact your professional image. Here’s how to manage your social media and online identity wisely: 

Understand Your Company’s Policies 

• Follow Company Rules: Check your company’s policy on computer and social media use. Make sure you follow these guidelines. 

• Know the Rules: Be aware of broader privacy laws and conduct policies that apply both in and outside of work. Stick to them both at work and on your own time. 

Manage Your Online Activity 

• Be Discreet About Work: Avoid posting about work unless it's part of your job or approved by your supervisor. 

• Set Privacy Settings: Decide who should see your posts and adjust your privacy settings accordingly. 

• Be Mindful of Your Online Image: Only share content you’re comfortable with the public seeing. 

• Choose Connections Wisely: Be selective about who you add as friends or connections and monitor what others post about you. 

• Check Your Online Presence: Regularly search for your name online to see what’s visible about you. 

Protect Your Online Identity 

• Guard Against Theft: Be cautious of online identity theft and fraud. 

• Maintain Credibility: Keep your online interactions professional, positive, and accurate. 

Workshops/Group Activities 

Job Search and Networking Strategies How to Effectively Use LinkedIn 

Additional Resources 

Privacy and social media in the workplace – The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada provides advice and information for individuals about protecting personal information including using social media in workplace, privacy implications for employee, monitoring employee social media, and more. 

How to Use Social Media in Your Job Search: a helpful list of tips to help you better utilize social media in your job search from About.com 

Online Marketing: Employers Using Social Media to Screen and Recruit: discusses the increase in employers’ use of social media for recruitment and the reasons some candidates have been eliminated as potential hires due to information posted on their social media pages. 

Using Social Media to Find Top Recruits: This brief article is written for employers but offers valuable insight for job seekers about how employers use social media to recruit good quality candidates—and filter out the bad ones! 

Top 10 Social Media Do’s and Don’ts: How (and How Not) to Use Social Media to Job Search: A list of ten important do’s and don’ts—along with explanations—from About.com