Negative Online Reputation Can Cost You Your Dream Job

When the internet was not in existence all you needed to worry about was building up your professional resume, making and building professional relations, having strong recommendations, and staying out of trouble. This was the formula you needed to build up in order to land that job that you coveted.

The internet world does exist now and you must use it to your benefit, but at the same time keeping out of trouble from it as well. There are six ways your internet reputation can harm and each will be analyzed below. 

1. Search Engine Link- It is very common for a potential employer to just type in your name in Google in order to see what comes up. Actually, it will happen most likely than not. They are looking for what kind of light shows up when your name is typed in. For example, if your name provides too much of a negative light that company may not hire you. First impression is key in many aspects of life, it is no different when it comes to online reputation. 

2. Are you a complainer? If you tend to complain a lot about your current or former employer and you are sharing it all over Facebook, many companies may not want to hire you. Keep your comments to yourself, posting on social media accounts will only make things worse.

3. Inappropriate Information- You may think that the night you went drinking with friends is perfect to share with other people through socialmedia. Wrong! You do not want your future employer to be looking at these kind of photos. Links and other offensive topics that you decide to post will only harm you. Keep it professional online because it is not private when you decide to post things. 

4. Do not offer too much information- It is already advised that you refrain from posting about religious views, politics, or anything related to that matter. Think about it, when you post controversial topics online you are only attracting attention. This is negative attention and a future employer may not want to have anything to do with your controversial ways. 

5. Friends, Colleagues? Recruiters usually want to hear comments that are made about you from friends or former colleagues. Negative comments made them will only do harm to you, so remember how you maintain your relationships and the experiences you have with them. 

6. Groups- If you are part of a controversial group online, and you share it publicly this will also play a part in a company wanting to hire you. It may be very wise for you to get rid of any evidence of being part of a controversial group if you would you like to be hired for your dream job. 

Keep Calm and Repair

In today's society given all that we have access to sometimes things will go awry and will simply be out of your control. How you can respond to these events will be very telling about you and your business. Those who panic are setting themselves up to either fail or seriously lose business, while those who are calm and have taken the proper precautions and have the right people set up will get through it with relative ease.

There is always a time to panic and a time to stay calm and as a business owner it is very important that you know when to do both. Timing is everything in business so you can't get thrown out of motion at the first sign of distress that your company comes across. It doesn't give the public a good perception of you or your company it shows that under pressure you crack and are unreliable.

While that may be the signs of a weak company a business that is prepared to take on any task big, small, bad or good is one worth investing in. What this type of company shows is its ability to do great damage control which is very important for businesses especially if it is a big multinational business that services a wide array of people.

But it is not too late to transform your image in fact there are firms that can help you repair your reputation from a company that used to panic and fold under pressure to one that now stands tall no matter what is thrown at you. As a business owner you should be prepared to go through some type of adversity during your tenure.

Reputation Management will be needed because your company will have the reputation of one that can't do business without panicking and so begins the comments and rumors spreading about you online when that happens you must be prepared to take control of your firm's reputation. If you choose not to do anything you will see how the rumors and doubts about your company will continue to grow and place you to the back of the pack.

The best way to deal with an attack on your company's reputation is to make sure you are prepared to deal with it. That means having hired an great Reputation Management firm or having a good in house PR team that can take on this task. Proper preparation is the key to success in any business.


You're only as strong as your weakest link. Standing tall and succeeding in the face of adversity shows there are no weak links in your business.

Your Future Is In Your Hands

The future is what we are looking at today. The technology is only going to get bigger and more advanced making our lives easier in some aspects but we will continuing to be exposed to the pitfalls and dangers of it, especially the younger generation.

Powerless is what can best describe us to the ongoing evolution of technology, there is no stopping it or preventing it. You have two options either use it or don't. Being that we are in the technology era those who choose not to use it will find themselves at a serious disadvantage. But what does this mean for the children growing up in today's world. while they have more access to online educational and learning tools which is a major benefit how are they going to be able to cope socially when they do not have the luxury of a laptop or cell phone in front of them.

 What leads this tech boom is SocialMedia which has transformed how we communicate with each other. But for every good that it offers there is a bad lurking around in the background ready to jump out and take advantage of an unsuspecting victim. Those victims are the ones who become exposed online either by picture, personal message or rumor. We see more than often that today if you want to find out something about somebody that you can just go online no need to pick up a paper or magazine.

This is very alarming because with a paper at least you knew you had some time start damage control before it spread all over but with Social Media it can be across the world within a matter of seconds. For younger kids growing up this is their future so it is more important than ever to educate them on the does and don'ts of Social Media activity.

Without guidelines or proper training businesses will not be the only clients of online Reputation Management firms, but you will see an influx of individuals seeking help from firms like Centel Media™ to help rebuild their reputation online. It also can't be stressed enough that whatever you do will follow you and is there for everyone to see if you are not careful with your dealings online. One piece of advice I would give is not to post anything that might seem private or personal if you do then you are setting yourself up for a long and hard fall that will take a lot of hard work to get up from.

Educating the youth is the best way to help them avoid making the same mistakes that the previous generation has made, especially when it comes to the internet and Social Media.

Don't Believe the Hype

Being a celebrity or a person of famous status has perks that we regular people can only dream of. Whether it’s going to fashion shows all over the world or VIP treatment at the hottest restaurant in town, it doesn't get much better than that. As easy as it may seem to get to the top one little rumor or claim can rapidly bring all the special treatment to a standstill and leave you trying to repair your reputation.

There seems to be two worlds, the world that normal people live in and then you have the celebrity world which we will most likely never live in but hey anybody can dream right. The job of a celebrity is very hard if you ask me one must try and save face in both worlds and not manage to get caught up in any type of scandal that can destroy your image in both worlds.

Believe it or not your favorite celebrity is a brand and that brand is represented every time they step outside into the public eye. So it is in their best interest to make sure they are staying clear and away from trouble if not the brand in which they represent becomes diminished. The same path should be taken when it comes to Social Media activity as well. Since the rise of Social Media there really hasn't been a day where you haven't seen a celebrity being crucified for something the put on Facebook or Twitter.

As I always state a person should never get too personal when it comes to posting things on Social Media. No matter what it is because often times when they do post things the words get twisted around and then you have celebrities blaming the media for this misunderstanding. One must understand that when you put something online 50% of people will understand it in the context you put it in and the other half will try and make a big story out of nothing.

When situations like that arise it is in your best interest to have either a great PR team on standby or quickly hire and online Reputation Management firm to help with beginning the process of rebuilding your brand back up to respectability. These two options are very necessary because as soon as your name becomes embroiled in some type of trouble the online press will have a field day with you. Web searches to SocialMedia the first thing you will see is the bad not the good doesn't matter how much money you donated or what good you did the bad is going to overshadow that.

The best way to deflate the hype bubble is getting a professional team or firm to help you. Doing this all by yourself will take too much of your time and is not the best method because you might feel compelled to argue back which is the worst thing you can do. Doing it the right way ensures you that your brand will make it out and be stronger than ever which can only mean success for your career.

The biggest people make the easiest targets to hit. Protect yourself from all attacks that can diminish your brand.