As someone who sits firmly at the intersection of students and employers, I often find myself giving students the following advice: The easiest way to create a personal brand is to take care of your online brand. The easiest way to lose yourself a job opportunity is to not take care of your online brand (TalentEgg even once declined to hire someone because of their Facebook pictures). Create a presence, take control of the conversation. And guess what – it doesn’t even cost any money.

Employers need to take this advice themselves. Why? Because, as I outlined in my previous article, the starting place for active career research is Google.

When students and recent grads Google your organization, what do they find? When students Google entry-level careers in your industries, are you visible?

A recent analysis of traffic patterns at TalentEgg showed that students are using Google as a sort of “Question and Answer” tool. We saw search queries like “Starting a career in accounting,” “What’s the entry-level salary at COMPANY X,” “Interview questions for Engineering,” etc.

Think about both the threat and the opportunity here:

For COMPANY X,

Threat: You want to make sure that the information the querying student finds is accurate

Opportunity: Showcase your strengths as a graduate employer.

For an accounting or engineering firm,

Threat: If you’re not listed in the first page or two of the search results, you have missed a huge opportunity to be a part of a qualified and interested candidate’s decision-making process.

Opportunity: Stand out from the crowd.

This opportunity to stand out is augmented for small and medium sized firms – the magic of the internet, and smart search tools like Google, is that they work to make information accessible. No longer are we stuck in a situation where the biggest budgets win. The web and connectivity level the playing field and offer an enhanced opportunity for both employers and students alike to access the information they need to make the right decisions.

While much of brand recognition and decision making may still be made in person and over time, it is generally agreed that most of the research young people do is online. This is a fantastic breakthrough for students and recent grads – it provides access to information that was not previously available and allows them to better assess their opportunities. Employers need to better facilitate this.

Employers also need to start taking the advice so often given to the students they recruit: Think about your online brand. Or alternatively, when someone Googles you, what do they find?