January 15th, 2010 | 
Author: I was flipping through my Feed Reader the other day and I came across an article on TechCrunch called Kleiner And Bessemer Put $8.65 Million Into ReputationDefender.
The article itself isn’t important (it’s a VC funding announcement), but it did bring ReputationDefender, a relatively new company, to my attention.
So what is ReputationDefender? It’s a subscription service which can be used to manage and monitor your online identity and reputation. Essentially, you pay a fee and they provide information on your online presence and what people are saying about you. In theory, this should allow you to head off unwanted negative information more quickly.
I can certainly see how this service could be useful to an Entry Level Job hunter. In the era of initial “Google Reference Checks”, knowing what is being said about you online could be critical to whether you land the job or not.
But the question remains, should you pay for this service? My hunch is that, unless you have a wealth of negative information posted about you online, you probably don’t need this service. From an employer’s perspective, most of the “negative” information that is out there is made freely available by the candidate themselves. Simply restricting access to your Facebook posts and Twitter feed can go a long way towards eliminating the types of material that would hurt your job search.
Ultimately, the decision is up to you. There are plenty of pricing options available (from monthly fees to full-year subscriptions). Either way, it certainly couldn’t hurt your cause. The choice is yours.
Ever used a third party to monitor and control your online identity? If so, leave us a comment below. It would be great to know more about your experience.
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Tags: 2 Responses to “Should You Pay A Company To Monitor And Protect Your Online Reputation?”
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Hi Trevor. I’m happy to see you caught the news of ReputationDefender’s Series B funding on TechCrunch, and I wanted to say thanks for continuing the discussion here at the Gradversity blog. You raise some interesting points in your post, and I wanted to take a moment to respond to them.
You are definitely right in saying that ReputationDefender is a good tool for job seekers. The “Google Reference Check,” as you put it, is definitely alive and well, which is one of the big reasons our customers turn to us. Not only do we help people understand their online presence, but we help them modify it so that they are promoting their positive identities on the web.
Whether or not the service is worth paying for is another interesting question. Effectively managing one’s online reputation requires a sustained and deliberate effort that combines web monitoring as well as the proactive promotion of positive content. If that’s something that someone has the bandwidth and desire to take on themselves, kudos to them.
We believe, however, that, for the majority of busy professionals, our services fulfill an important need. Many people simply don’t have the time or don’t consider the importance of online reputation management until it’s too late, at which point their small problems have become too big to deal with on their own. Continuous monitoring by a team of professionals is an effective way of heading off any problems before they begin.
I appreciate your response. Would you care to share a little more information on how your service works, perhaps in the form of a guest post?
My biggest concern is the cost. For most cash-strapped students (Gradversity’s target audience), cash can be difficult to come by. I would love to hear more from you about how this service can help new grads, specifically taking into account the challenges they face.