Digital footprint’s impact on job seeking
- News
Have you ever wondered what kind of traces you leave online? When you use different digital services and applications online, you leave behind a set of traces that is called a digital footprint. Your digital footprint can affect your job seeking – both positively and negatively.
When you use a smart device, application or digital service, you will leave traces. They may be stored on your device, on a server or even in a customer database. Companies and public authorities also collect users’ personal and geographical data so that they can develop better services and target their advertising. These stored traces and collected data form a digital footprint.
A digital footprint is created as a result of active and passive digital activities. Traces resulting from passive digital activities, such as the number of visits to a website, IP address and used browser, are irrelevant regarding job seeking. On the other hand, a digital footprint created as a result of active digital activities, such as social media publications and comments on a message board written using your own name, is a more complex matter.
As provided by law, an employer must always request information directly from the employee in a recruitment situation. For instance, searching for information with a job seeker’s name on a search engine is not allowed but is in practice almost impossible to monitor. Many people who rarely do recruiting do not even know that searching for information from sources other than those provided by the job seeker is contrary to good practice. The job seeker’s digital footprint must not affect the recruitment decision, but it may be part of the recruiter’s first impression of the job seeker.
A digital footprint may also have a positive impact on recruitment. Your resume can include links to your social media profiles or, for example, a link to a hobby blog you are keeping. When communication skills or representing the organisation among customers are emphasised in the position you are applying for, a polished social media profile could be very useful. Your personality might also be better communicated to the employer through photos and other publications.
If you are concerned about your digital footprint, you can manage it in a variety of ways. Here are a few tips.
- Think carefully about what you publish.
- Remove unnecessary applications and social media accounts from your mobile devices.
- Delete unnecessary contacts from your phone.
- Check your social media privacy settings and what information others see about you.
- When you start using a new application or service, read the terms of use so that you know what you are committing to.
- Also reflect on your own online behaviour from the point of view of whether you respect other people’s photos, personal data and user accounts.
Good luck in your job seeking!