Leaving Your Mark

What is a digital footprint? Have you ever wondered what happens every time you click, like, comment, or post on the internet, digital footprint is what happens anything you do, say or post is permanently ingrained on the internet which means anything you posted when you were 9 will still be there when you’re in your 40s–not always a good thing. Having a digital footprint can have a positive or a negative impact on your future. A positive digital footprint is something detrimental to your future. If you have a negative one it can tank future job opportunities.

What’s the reason you want a positive digital footprint and not a negative one? When going to get a job your future employer is going to look at your digital footprint and that digital footprint can be the deciding factor on if you get the job or not. If you have a positive digital footprint they will have a higher chance of wanting to hire you in the end.  “I started when I was in elementary school.- I’ll be eighteen soon, and right now, I’m deciding which college I’ll be going to next year. I’m interested in design and social entrepreneurship”(An Update: December 2014) this helps you understand that what you post on the internet at a young age can still have an impact on you 10 years from now, it can be a positive impact though because it can tell your employers what you are really like as a person. Having been on the internet your whole life is not always a good thing because when you start to apply for jobs, your employers may see things from when you were young and not find it suitable to hire you in the long run .” This may include: an indication of the applicant’s personality, online profile supports professional qualifications and conduct, good communication skills, creativity, groups which the applicant is participating in, do other people provide good references and comments about them, have they received any awards and accolades”(Jalger) when employers are deciding whether or not to higher you they may look at a variety of thing, including your social media, so if you have something on that social media that they don’t like they can decide not to hire you in the end maybe because of something you posted years ago.

You might be wondering “how do I create a good digital footprint that will make employers want to higher me,?” Well, there are a variety of things you can do “easiest thing you can do is write a blog write about your internships”(Ratzlaff) if you want your future employers to think highly of you then write a blog or something else they might see about the work you have done, leading up to this job. Another way you can create a more positive digital footprint is by changing what you post on your social media. You need to start being more careful about what you post now that you are trying to get a job. There are many ways you can try and create a digital footprint, but it is harder to try and make it a positive digital footprint.

image citation “December 1941 – ‘Collins St. & Flinders St. station, Melbourne, a Footprint of Memory’ – rare multi-view real photo post card (circa 1920s-1930s)” by aussiejeff is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.