What Will Your Name Reveal?

MIAMI – Miguel Merino’s online resume has the usual rundown of work experience and education. But the University of Miami senior music performance major takes it a step further by letting visitors listen to his tracks, read critics’ reviews, see a list of upcoming gigs and watch videos of his performances.

“It’s the first time I’ve had my own Web site that I’ve put some work into,” said Mr. Merino, 22. And it’s worth the $20 a month as a personal promotion tool, he says: “It’s super important.”

Mr. Merino was pushed to create the site, migimusic.com, because of a class assignment. But multimedia resumes work for more careers than those in the performing arts.

Recruiters say having a professional online presence is becoming more crucial. Vital bits of information on candidates are found through Internet searches as the market shifts to passive recruitment, and Google searches as background checks have become common in the hiring process.

Paper and electronic resumes are not extinct, but they are only the beginning. Getting a job offer may depend on social network profiles, personal Web sites, blogs and YouTube videos. It’s about your online footprint and the management of your personal brand.

Joe Laratro, president-elect of South Florida Interactive Marketing Association, has been hearing the term “reputation management” tossed around in marketing circles.

Do you know what comes up when you do a Google search on your name? Reputation man-agement is getting the links you want people to see to show up on top.

“You don’t want someone searching your name and seeing you passed out drunk somewhere,” Mr. Laratro said.

And if you think bosses aren’t searching for information about you, think again.

A November 2007 survey by career media company Vault reports that 44 percent of employers are logging on to sites such as MySpace and Facebook to examine the profiles of job candidates, and 39 percent have looked up the profile of a current employee.

“There’s no doubt that myself and my team certainly scour the Internet for the past experiences of an individual,” said Dan Alpert, a manager at the digital marketing services firm Avenue A Razorfish, and SFIMA president.

“You want to be very sensitive to what type of brand you put forward – one’s own personal brand identity. If it’s not tasteful, it shouldn’t be online,” Mr. Alpert said.

VisualCV.com, a site that offers free multimedia resumes with videos, suggests in its tips guide that an online portfolio shouldn’t take the place of a traditional paper resume and application.

Louise Kursmark, author of the guide and president of Best Impression Career Services, wrote it’s best to think of an online resume as an add-on for networking and a relationship builder.

Originally published by McClatchy Newspapers.

(c) 2008 Augusta Chronicle, The. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.