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I regularly get asked to present on behalf on a range of topics associated with Social Media, and potentially one of the most universal areas I talk about is the subject of online reputation (also known as ‘digital reputation’).

This is a subject which not only applies to us as businesses, but to all of as individuals.

The presentation below was one I prepared this week for a group of graduates looking to improve their chances of employment. They were all enrolled on an excellent 2 week course run by Unlocking Cornish Potential which aims to provide them with a range of insights into entering the workplace, provided by various business people, me included.

Prior to meeting the group I had been given their names and email addresses, enabling me to background search publicly available information, freely available to read via Google or other search indexes. (credit must go to David McGuire at the John Knowles Company for the great idea)

In most cases these guys and gals had been pretty savvy and had locked down their profiles using the privacy settings. However, there was quite a few surprises when I took time to show each of them individually (and privately) just what came up. (Old MySpace accounts from their uni days, photo libraries of drunken evenings with mates and some pretty revealing group memberships!)

In this presentation I don’t reveal what I found in any detail, instead highlighting other cases I have come across on the web.

The presentation includes some practical advice on what you can do to protect yourself and keep alert of new content, as well as providing suggestions on how you might turn the tables and use Social Media sites to put you ahead in the interview room.

I am always keen to hear your thoughts, comments or suggestions.. so if you have something to add please add a comment or get in touch via email. Thanks for reading, Aren.