Manage your rep on social media

Editor's note: This is a transcript of the audio file.

Half of all employers nationwide report checking a job applicant's social media profile.

It's time to clean up your act online. I'm Janet Stauble with your Bankrate.com Personal Finance Minute.

Online reputation management firms can charge thousands to clean up your social media profile. But you can manage your online reputation on your own.

You've probably Googled yourself. But have you searched your name on Bing and Yahoo? The results can be a little different. So check all three.

You don't need to go super deep with the search results. Focus on the first page. Try to remove negative content or bury it with positive or neutral content.

Every social media site has privacy settings, but there is such thing as being too private. Employers want to find you online. Be open and honest, and let them get a glimpse at who you are.

Claim your name on sites like Twitter and consider buying a dot-com domain with your real name. This can defend against people impersonating you and smearing your name online.

Want to learn more? Log onto Bankrate.com. I'm Janet Stauble.