A recent survey commissioned by Microsoft found that 70 percent of recruiters and hiring managers in the United States have rejected an applicant based on information they found online. CNNEmbarrassing photos, stupid ideas posted to their Facebook wall in a drunken stupor and angry rants about a current or former employer can cost you a job at a new employer or even get you fired. So does this mean to hide your online presence through a fake name, as the CNN article above suggests?
You might want to reconsider: Steve Cheney, MBA '09, worked in finance after graduating from Columbia Business School. But as he reoriented his career towards the start-up and venture capital world, he found it difficult to get a footing without a positive online presence. So he took the challenge head on, started a personal blog and posted his thoughts and ideas online. In his own words:
In the few months since I've been blogging I've created as many key relationships with heavy hitters like Chris [Dixon] as I had during the prior few years (a time during which I worked on Sand Hill Road, marketed to Google & Apple, went to b-school, etc). No joke!!He can now send start-ups and VCs he meets to his blog. Instead of just marveling at past accomplishments on his resume, they can now understand how he thinks. If it works for Steve, maybe it will also work for us?
steve's blog
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