One hundred percent (100%) of Chief Financial Officers
and Senior Finance Executives have an online reputation to manage
Not everyone loves statistics, but I do. There is something about having a factual basis for acting that resonates with my brain and propels me forward. So of course, as my Online ID re-certification course began, the stats had me saying WOW! My clients definitely need to know - from a facts and figures perspective - how critically important it is to manage your online reputation. Because whether or not you are proactively managing it, you do have one ... even if that reputation is MIA.
Here are some of the stats that jumped out at me ...
-- ... an executive can increase the amount of his or her compensation by increasing one statistic; the number of CEOs and decision-makers in a sector that are aware of the executive’s accomplishments. Howard Nestler, CEO of Executive Options
-- 79% of US hiring managers and recruiters reviewed online information about job applicants. 70% rejected candidates based on what they found, with poor communication skills, lying, and sharing confidential company information among the reasons cited for rejection.
-- Conversely, 18% of companies found social networking profiles as a positive influence because they offered a good feel for culture fit and added credibility to the candidates’ resumes / interview. I believe this number is only going to continue to grow.
-- 76% of executives expect to be Googled yet 22% have never Googled their own name to see what companies and recruiters will find.
-- While there are no measurements on the influence of a CFO’s reputation, 87% of respondents to a Hill & Knowlton survey believe the CEO’s reputation is key to the company. I would venture to say the CFO’s reputation is equal or greater to that of the CEO, particularly during tough times.
-- According to a Career Builder study last year, the top industries most likely to screen job candidates using social networking sites and search engines include those who handle sensitive information.
Bottom Line: If you want to be among the hunted, you have to be able to be found.
(Sources: Reach Online ID Certification 2010, Microsoft 2009, Career Builder 2009, Execunet 2007)
