Having trouble getting hired to work at home? There are many reasons why you may not be getting a response to your resumes and applications. Perhaps you're not as qualified as the other applicants. Perhaps the job has been filled but the announcement hasn't been removed from jobs available list. But there is one reason many applicants that aren't getting hired fail to consider and that is having a poor online reputation.

Historically employers made judgments about your character and work ethic based on a resume, interview and references. Today though they have a host of online resources and they are not afraid to use them. An ExecuNet survey showed that in 2007 83% of recruiters used search engines to learn more about job candidates and 43% of them used what they learned to eliminate a candidate from consideration. Doing an online search of your name gives potential employers access to your social networking sites, blogs, pictures and more.  The problem comes when employers stumble upon information that was created for entertainment purposes and use it against you.  Social networking can be fun, but having a picture of you eating an olive from someone's belly button during spring break may lead employers to pass on your application. That's not fair, you may say. You're probably right. But it’s the reality of the world right now so it's worth your time and effort to check your online reputation and clean it up if need be.

Your first step to insuring a good online image is to check all your regular online activity such as your MySpace page and blog. What pictures do you have posted? What have you been ranting about? Who are your friends?

Next do a vanity search on your name by typing your name in quotes into your favorite search engine.  Visit the results pages to see what's being posted by you or about you.

If you find something that could potentially hurt your job search efforts, get rid of it. If you have access to the account you can log in and remove any questionable material. It can still be available through search engines that store cached sites, but eventually it will fall off the search engine radar.

If you find something potentially bad but you don't have the authority to remove it yourself, contact the site owner and ask if he/she would remove it or otherwise disguise you. For example, if your friend is posting the pictures from the wild party last weekend, ask to have your face blocked and name withheld.

The internet can be a fun place to play so it's unfortunate that you have to monitor your activity to keep up professional appearances. But not all is lost. When online to work or find a job, use your regular name but if you're online to play, consider using your nickname. This can allow you to separate your work from play in the online world and prevent potential employers from eliminating you from the job pool base on your off-hour activities.

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