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Teenagers and Digital Tracks on the Web: Career Tool or Boomerang?
// By Simone Janson

Young people are increasingly using social networks like Facebook or Twitter. And they leave traces there in the form of postings, comments, photos, videos. Can this later become a problem when looking for a job?

Personnel search specifically in the net?

What many young Internet users do not think about: when searching for a job and applying later, they could be fatal, because HR managers are now making targeted use of the Internet to find out more about applicants.

But that's also the reason to think in good time about how to use the Internet specifically for his career planning.

Traces in the WEB - career tool or boomerang?

98 percent of all 12 to 19 year olds use the Internet regularly. And 85 percent of them are at least seldom active in social networks, 72 percent daily or several times a week. The most popular is the "SchülerVZ" with 42 percent, the 18-19 year olds prefer the "StudiVZ". This is followed by "who-knows-whom", localists "," MySpace "," Kwick "and MeinVZ in the popularity scale. This is shown by the study "Youth, Information, (Multi-) Media" (JIM for short), which the Media Education Research Association Southwest has been carrying out annually since 1998.

And it also shows how unobtrusive the young people on the Internet deal with personal data and information. About 80 Percent of Internet users have posted information about their likes or hobbies. Also your own eMailAddress is visible on the Internet at more than 35 percent. And more than two-thirds have uploaded photos or films online. Particularly precarious: 54 percent of respondents have this data unprotected and accessible to all Internet users, stand on the net.

Nobody knows who reads this

That's a problem because nobody knows who's accessing this information - and what it does with it. This can have serious consequences: for example, 42 percent of Internet users say that videos or photos portraying them themselves have already been posted online without their consent. A quarter reported that it was already in the circle of friends to trouble due to Internet entries. It has happened to 14 Percent that false or offensive has been disseminated on the Internet. Up to now, a quarter of internet users have come into contact with cyberbullying. Every third girl and every second boy can tell that someone from the circle of friends has already been finished on the Internet.

But even data that you do not make public, but only releases his friends, are not sure of discovery. Because, as numerous cases in the past show, the online networks are by no means protected against hacker attacks. This was demonstrated by the Fraunhofer Institute for Secure Information Technology in a study. And the researchers also showed: Actually, it also manages to get every normal user to data and photos, which the user actually thought safe locked.

Years later, problems can arise

Even years later, youthful sins on the Internet can lead to problems that many still do not even think about today. Because, of course, potential employers have long since discovered the Internet as a source of information: according to a study by the job board Careerbuilder, 22 percent already use the internet to obtain information. Not only are they checking the qualifications they have given, the candidate has badly talked about former employers, or has a criminal record: 41 percent of employers are looking for targeted information on alcohol and drug use, and another 40 percent are looking for discrediting photos.

Because the old data in the network are usually preserved. Even those who delete their profile in online networks probably have not eliminated all forum entries, links and photos. With special face recognition software even photos can be assigned, if they do not carry a name. And in archives like Wayback.com, experienced people can also find ancient data. So in terms of career, it's best not to do anything with social networking activities?

Continue to be active in social networks

Thorsten zu Jacobsmühlen, who advises companies on recruitment on the Web 2.0 and regularly blogs about the topic, disagrees:

"Even in the age of Web 2.0, the personal CV, appearance, knowledge and, if available, experience must ultimately convince. But the internet offers excellent opportunities for job search and career planning. But you should know how to use it to your advantage and what you should avoid if possible. This has become so important that people in England, for example, are already trying to teach elementary school students how to use social media. "

Above all, there are more and more search services available to employers, which provide more and more detailed search results about applicants: These are first of all search engines like Google or special blog search engines like Technocrati, with which long-forgotten entries in forums or ancient blog comments can still be traced. In addition, there are special personal search engines such as 123People or Yasni, which unite all information about a person clearly on one page. Search services like Spokeo make it possible to search not only all social networks all the way to Twitter, but also video and photo services like Youtube and Flickr. And with zabasearch, public documents such as birth dates and even convictions can be unearthed in the US - a trend that sooner or later will also affect Germany.

Carry out positive reputation management

"If you think you can avoid the danger by holding back, you are creating another, much bigger problem: You are doing without the opportunity to draw positive attention to yourself and thereby convince potential employers of your good reputation online , "

explains to Jacobmühlen and makes it clear that employers are not about discrediting anyone:

"Above all, employers want to know how applicants behave on the web. An applicant who blasphemes in networks about classmates, teachers or fellow students may also do so about colleagues or the boss. No company wants to risk that because you have to put a lot of emphasis on your own company reputation! "

For these reasons, in the meantime, in the context of the application process, nearly all companies would screen applicants who would be on the selection list. And not just in top positions, but even potential trainees. It is no longer an industry apart from this:

"Many believe that the Internet only plays a role for applications in the IT or media industry in communication professions or executive offices. But meanwhile even medium-sized craft businesses are looking for their web vita when choosing their apprentices. "

Info Box: What to look for to protect your online reputation?

• No ostrich policy: Avoid the "ostrich policy". If you do nothing against a negative online reputation and do not communicate, you leave the field to others and miss the opportunity to put yourself in the right light.
• Acting in time: Whoever becomes active only when he notices that unpleasant content is circulating on the net, it is too late, because image cultivation must first be laboriously built up.
• If you want to delete unwelcome data: If you discover unwelcome information about yourself on other websites, you can ask the operator for deletion. However, you usually do not have a legal handle.
• Assign service providers: If the image problem takes over and you can no longer handle it, so-called reputation defenders, professional service providers, help further.
• Awareness raising: Anyone who is active on the Internet, should remember at each of his steps that this can still be read in years. This is less complicated and annoying than you think, because after some time it becomes a matter of course to think ahead.

Gain experience on the internet

Johannes Lenz from the recruitment consultancy AlmaMater, which specializes in graduates, also finds it important to try things on the internet and gain experience that will be useful on the future career path:

"New social media such as Facebook, Xing and Twitter are also becoming increasingly important in everyday working life. So it is an advantage if you are familiar with it at the start of your career and develop your skills. "

But of course the Internet also brings dangers, explains Lenz, who is responsible for the areas of online editorial and online marketing at Alma Mater. According to Lenz, adolescents in particular would have to resist the temptation to focus too much on their own through a broad reach because that could have negative consequences. It is therefore important to use the Internet in a targeted manner and deal responsibly with your own data and set limits from the outset on how much you want to reveal:

"You should think carefully about who you want to reach with your content - otherwise they are the wrong people. The more openly I handle my data, the more dangerous it is. For example, if you only want to get in touch with your friends, you should make sure that you can only release data in a targeted manner on the network. You should also hide your profile from search engines. "

Use social networks specifically for your career

Who wants to use social networks specifically for his career, has various options to do so: for example, by attracting attention with forum posts, comments or your own blog on a specific topic. In addition, you can present yourself on platforms such as...