Your internet presence is an indispensible part of your 21st century job search. Not only should you be actively reaching out to recruiters and hiring authorities, but you should also be leveraging your efforts with direct networking (through LinkedIn, Facebook, Ecademy, etc.) and a strong internet presence. This combination creates an effective job search strategy that will increase your exposure to more opportunities.

If you have a website, blog, Facebook profile, or other web presence, there are two things to examine:

1. Can people find you? 2. When they do, what will they find?

Do you worry about what people might find, or not find, if they do a Google search on you? Here are some steps to ensure you sleep better at night.

Promoting yourself on the Internet can be challenging. You want to be searchable, in that if someone types in your name to Google, you want to be found. In this day in age, it can be detrimental if nothing exists in your name. On the other hand, you don’t want the information that pops up in your search to be unprofessional.

The focus here is keeping your -business presence- what you intend it to be. Someday, you will probably need to rely on it for future employment. Your internet presence is your personal brand. When potential employers and clients Google search you, what they find should encompass your brand – meaning that they should be able to find everything that is related to your professional endeavors.

Keywords are not just for resumes. If you have written articles, books, or have presented your artwork or given presentations, all of these belong in categories with keywords associated with them. This will ensure that they will be searchable under your name, adding to your professional internet presence.

Screen icons should represent you and your skills, not necessarily be cute and fuzzy. A screen name can make or break you. Can others take you seriously with your screen name? Facebook for family can be cute; Facebook for business should be representative of your skills and talents. Taglines are similar to screen names. They should be carefully chosen to represent you and your work- in as few words as possible as a tagline is meant to be catchy, so that means short and to-the-point.

Work samples show variety, but you should be cognizant of what samples you show. If you show personal or proprietary information on the web, you may be held liable. Others may not want to work with you if they think their projects will be shown in your public portfolio. Develop sensitivity towards others’ feelings. Always ask clients before posting material to the web. Don’t post everything you’ve ever done. When your portfolio list gets too long, it’s a good idea to just post a listing of the items (if needed), not the entire work.

When you can refer everyone from your parents and spouse to potential employers or employees to your website or blog, you can safely bet your web presence is heading in the right direction. You can sleep easier knowing your future employer won’t find that questionable whatever-it-is you hope they won’t see.

Candace Davies, President of A+ Resumes for Teachers, is a Certified Resume Writer, Interview Coach Strategist, and Author of 9 popular educational job search eBooks. She is dedicated to assisting teachers, administrators and other education professionals to advance their careers quickly, easily and with less stress. Visit her website at https://resumes-for-teachers.com/a/main.htm or sign up to receive FREE weekly teaching job search tips, interview questions and answers, and other priceless career advice: https://resumes-for-teachers.com/a/sign-up.htm

When a commercial wireless network goes down, the whole company suffers. Many companies rely solely on the Internet to run their businesses, so if no one can connect, work will not be done. In some cases, this can cause the company a large amount of money in a very short amount of time.

The key to troubleshooting a commercial wireless network problem is to know where common problems occur. That way you can check those first and hopefully be able to get the employees back to work quickly. Here are 8 things to check while troubleshooting wireless network connection.

Check the wires and wireless network adapter. Make sure all the wires are plugged in to the router correctly and that the power cord is connected to the power source. The lights of the router should be glowing and the cable/DSL modem should be on. Also check that the wireless network adapter is switched to ‘on.’ If you have Windows, go to the device manager and check that your wireless network adapted is on. If you have a USB wireless adapter try removing it and replacing it so Windows can re-detect it.

Check the signal strength: There are many things that could cause the signal of your wireless access point to affect the performance of your network. Some appliances can cause interference with your wireless network. For this reason, keep cordless phones, microwaves and other electrical equipment a mile away from the wireless router. Another thing you can do it try changing the channels on the access point, this could help your signal become stronger.

Make sure you have the correct device driver installed. If you don’t have the right device driver for your wireless network adapter it can cause all kinds of problems or your adapter may not work at all.

Install a repeater. If all you are looking for is a performance boost, install a repeater. This will receive the signal and boost the range of your network.

Change the position of your access point antenna. This can sometimes improve the performance of your commercial wireless network. Play around with the position and see if you notice a difference. Try to put it in a place where it avoids obstacles and reflective surfaces, like near the ceiling.

Change the antenna of your access point. Changing the actual antenna can increase signal range and performance.

Check Your Network Settings: In order for your PC or laptop to get on the wireless network it needs to be able to connect to an IP address from your wireless connection. If it can’t grab the address, you will not connect. First, make sure your Internet connection is up by using this command prompt in Windows (windows key + R then type CMD enter). Then type in ping 192.168.1.1 enter. This is the address for your wireless connection if you have a linksys connection. Once you ping your address, you should expect a reply back from your computer. If you get an error that says “request timed out” or “destination unreachable” that means there’s a problem with the communications link.

Double check your WEP/WPA encyption keys. Wireless encryption varies depending on which type of network you are on. If you’re on Windows XP, on the Association tab of your wireless network properties, make sure your network key was entered correctly and is the right one for the network you’re attempting to connect to.

There is nothing more annoying than setting up a wireless network at work then having to deal with the problem of being unable to connect. Following these tips will make troubleshooting your commercial wireless network problem much easier so you and your employees can get back to work. If your network is down, don’t be too quick to blame the equipment or the computer installation tech. Odds are you have a tiny problem that has been overlooked and can be fixed quickly and easily.

AUTHOR BIO: Chad King is CEO and President of KingPin Computers, a certified computer repair company based in Cleveland Ohio that specializes in troubleshooting commercial wireless networks and pc repair including spyware and malware removal, software and hardware installation, data backup and recovery for residential and commercial customers throughout Northeast Ohio.