Being ‘google-able’ is an advantage that is quickly becoming a necessity.

“In the past, the process of screening an applicant involved a great deal of manual work,” says Ward Flock, Principal of the executive search firm, Stanton Chase in San Francisco. “Now, everything is automated. This allows us [recruiters] to conduct research that is much more in-depth.”

Even if you’re not looking for work, it’s crucial to start cultivating an online presence—one that highlights your accomplishments.

A 24/7 Reference Check

A positive online presence can be an effective self-marketing tool.

“Googling an applicant adds another layer of context to the person,” says Flock. “You can find out information about them that may not have been immediately visible on their resume.”

Flock says that you should take advantage of the added exposure and use the Internet to illustrate your character. For example, blogs reveal the personal side of your life.

“Writing about your family, friends, interests, hobbies, etc., give us a better understanding of who you are,” says Flock. “It proves that you’re a well-rounded individual, and that’s a definite plus.”

Being part of an online community, such as Flickr or Facebook can be a powerful online vehicle.

Jeffrey Bentley, a search engine optimization specialist, suggests capitalizing on the strength of user-generated content.

“Build up the authority of your user profile with meaningful contributions to the community,” he says. “Contribute your knowledge and experience and it will pay off in spades.”

The idea is that by engaging people and sharing your ideas now, you help make your name more visible when people look you up later.

The more pages you write, the more links you’ll have, which will also help your search engine visibility. (See “Optimizing your presence” below.)

Good or bad, the Internet puts it out there

It’s just as easy to taint your image as it is to glorify it.

“If you’re on Facebook and all I see are drunken photos, then your work ethic will be brought into question,” says Flock.

“First impressions are everything. And your online presence constitutes as your first impression,” he says.

The solution?

Delete photos, videos and comments that may mar your character, and ask your friends to do the same.

“We all know that there are no secrets on the Internet. There’s no such thing as privacy,” says Flock.

The best way to regulate your online presence is to try Googling yourself. Although you can’t control what others write about you, you can comment on these pages to discount the facts or if it’s serious enough, you may even have a case for libel.

Ignorance is not bliss

While it may seem like an easier solution to avoid having an online presence altogether, being non-existent in the web world is not seen highly by recruiters.

“Especially if you’re applying for a senior-level job, then you need to have the credentials to show for it,” says Flock. “And if these credentials are nowhere to be seen on the Internet, then it leads me to believe that you haven’t made enough of an impact in order to be recognized.”

Ultimately, recruiters and employers equate the visibility of an applicant’s Internet profile to the influence of their work.

In fact, as an SEO specialist, Bentley knows that people are usually too lazy to go beyond the first page of search results. That’s why it is so important to create an online presence that makes it to the top of the search engine page.

Optimizing your presence

If you have a popular name such Smith, Lee or Mohamed, you may need to increase your search engine visibility. To do that, you need to understand how search engines work.

Bentley explains that most searches, including Google, use a citation-based model in order to determine the relevance of other sites to a particular query.

“On the web, these citations are known as links,” says Bentley.

In other words, the more sites that link to your website, the higher you rank in a search engine’s results. The aim of the game then becomes finding ways to increase the number of links to your website, also known as link baiting.

Linked or not, the fact remains that recruiters and employers are using Google and other search engines to screen and research applicants.

For tech professionals in particular, having a positive online presence is not only beneficial, it’s becoming essential.

Read Jeffrey Bentley’s blog here