Can everyone see those outrageous toga party photos that are on your Facebook? Do you have “mud wrestling” and “partying” as some of your favorite interests on your profile? Do you constantly update your status with complaints about your life (or worse, your job)?

If you answer YES to any of these questions and you’re on the hunt for that spectacular job then you should check into Facebook rehab…and fast.

In a 2009 survey conducted by CareerBuilder, 45 percent of employers admitted that they use Facebook to review their candidates (which about doubled from 22 percent in 2008) and 11 percent plan to use Facebook in the future to check on their interviewees.

Also from the survey, 35 percent found content on the candidates profile to cost them the possibility of landing the job. Here are the top examples, from the survey, of why candidates didn’t get hired:

• Posted inappropriate photographs or information
• Posted content about drinking or using drugs
• Bad-mouthed their previous employer and co-workers
• Expressed poor communication skills
• Lied about qualifications

Go-Getter-Girls work too hard on creating flawless resumes and portfolios to have it all be flushed down the drain because of an inappropriate picture or comment on Facebook.

Before any interview, you polish your look and you double-check to make sure your resume and portfolio is perfect; so why isn’t that Facebook page getting the once-over when your profile is easily your online resume for anyone to see?

Here are a couple of suggestions on how to job-proof your profile:

• Customize your own privacy settings. Go to Account, select privacy settings. Select Customize settings. Change the things you share to Friends Only or Only Me
• Consider changing your name on your profile. Use your middle initial as your last name or use your middle name as your first name. How? Go to Account, select My Account. Under Settings, you will find “name” and select “change.”
• Make the pictures in which you are tagged only available to yourself: You can also do this when you customize your privacy settings.
• Delete any inappropriate photos: Think of it this way, if you don’t want your Grandma to see them then you don’t want a future employer to.
• Info should be short and sweet.
• Be smart about what you put on your Likes and Interests; no one really needs to know that you like “Your Mom” jokes.
• Watch what you say on your status: Employers will not be impressed with someone who gushes their relationship problems every hour of everyday.

With these helpful tips you should be on our way out of Facebook rehab and on the right path to landing that dream job.

–Erin Lucido

Dear GGG, I work in a big corporation and know I need to be doing more informational meetings with senior staffers to raise my profile. But I’m not sure what I’m actually supposed to ask when I meet with someone. How do I appear like I have my act together and am genuine– even if I really don’t have anything profound to ask? — Selena*, age 24, Tuscon

Hi Selena! First, try to schedule meetings only with folks that you are actually interested in learning more about! Second, you’re right: you have to come to the table with something specific, and the farther along you are in your career, the more specific that purpose needs to be. You don’t want to be wasting their time– whether it’s a 10 minute chat over coffee or an hour-long lunch. If you’re the one who requested the meeting, understand that the other person doesn’t view it as a “Let’s get to know each other and chat” meeting. They perceive you’re coming to them for specific advice or guidance or help. So you need to come up with a mini-mission for the meeting– and if you don’t feel inspired, make one up! Spend some time researching the interviewee’s background on the company website/Google– and come up with the key theme you want to learn more about. For example: How did this person arrive in their position? How did getting that MBA/JD/Masters help them advance? How did they spearhead a particular initiative that you think is really cool? Here’s the setup: “I’ve really admired how you’ve done X, and I really wanted to learn more about your experiences” or “I’m wondering if you have any advice on how I can do X, too.” (For more general suggestions on other questions to ask during the meeting, check out this post).

Sidenote, the main purpose shouldn’t be, “Can you give me 5 contacts to help me accomplish X?” or “Do you know of any openings in Y?” You can ask those questions at the end of the meeting if the context feels right, but the main point of the meeting is to gain information and learn about the interviewee’s experience and perspective. You also need to be prepared that the interviewee will ask you what it is you want to do, and you need to have an answer– even if you blurt out that your goal is to get promoted to the next rung on the ladder by the end of the year. But be prepared.  The more specific your goal, the more likely the interviewee will offer key contacts and help open doors. I’ve walked into meetings where the first question from the interviewee is “So, what can I do to help you?” and it was clear they meant they were willing to make introductions and phone calls on my behalf– not just share advice.

Without having to many connections in the professional magazine world, I’ve relied on online applications to find a job. The problem with that is the lack of feedback. The posting asks you to send in a cover letter and resume. I would send these in, and direct them to my website for writing samples. But after that…silence. I rarely heard anything back. One time, I sent in my application for a posting that had only been up for a few hours and got an immediate email saying that the position had already been filled!

My first thought was something was wrong with my resume and cover letter. I turned to a career website specializing in media for a resume revamp. The guy replied with great advice about where my resume looked “thin” and what needed to be highlighted more. Lucky for me, they were running a special for 15 percent off, bringing the total to $296. Didn’t they realize that I don’t have a job? I respectfully declined and bought a book for $10 instead.

I found a design that was creative for the magazine industry, and something I could duplicate for my cover letters. I thought it looked great, and definitely an improvement from my previous one.

But I still wasn’t having any luck.

I applied for an internship at Marie Claire (I didn’t get it), but the intern supervisor told me I was one of about 10 people out of 100 who replied to the online posting that got selected for editing tests based on my resume and cover letter. That’s great, but still doesn’t answer my question as to why I’m not getting the gig.

In the spirit of constructive criticism, here’s my current resume incarnation. Do I need a resume makeover?!

For every positive thing I read, I read an article where a “don’t” appears on my resume. My name should be at the top, or I need to give greater detail about my previous positions. And cover letters? I spend hours on one cover letter, trying to make it sound smart and knowledgeable of the company. Yet, one website said recruiters don’t even look at cover letters!

As an experiment, I sent a faux-application package (resume and cover letter for a fictitious job opening at the magazine) to a local managing editor (her photo looked the friendliest on the magazine’s website). I asked her if she would take 90 seconds (or however long people actually look at applications) and give me a first response feedback. I told her if she sees something in five seconds that would make her throw it away, throw it away. I want to know the hard truth!

To my surprise, she was happy to do it. She responded the next day with “Your resume, cover letter and website are all very professional and very good.” She even offered me an internship at the magazine, though I told her I couldn’t commit to anything long term being as I have a big move in my future! (I did offer to help around the office whatever way I can until that date). Her only critique was my cover letter style didn’t match her publication. I had serial commas, a big no-no in AP style. I always thought I was using it, but I never proofread for style like I do for spelling and grammar. Now I know such a simple thing can be a deal-breaker for some employers…

–Samantha Hyde

Samantha Hyde graduated from the University of Texas in 2009. During her time spent in Austin, she interned and contributed to Austin Monthly, Texas Parks & Wildlife and Texas Highways magazine. She served as president of the magazine club and editor-in-chief of a college magazine, burntORANGE. Her issue, “How to be a Longhorn,” won second place in general excellence at the 2009 AEJMC awards.

You­­ dressed to impress, knocked the interview out of the park, and brought your sparkling personality to the table. But all you got back is, “I’m sorry, we’ve decided to go with someone else.”

You, my fellow Go-Getter-Girl, have just been rejected and the one-word question that is bouncing around in your head is “Why?”  Let’s face it: in the world of job hunting and never-ending interviews, rejection has become that annoying friend that just keeps on showing up uninvited.

“Rejection is bad. It hurts your feelings and you don’t get stuff that you want!” says Judith Sills psychologist and author of the #1 New York Times bestseller, Excess Baggage: Getting Out of Your Own Way. “Some people are totally set back by it. Being emotional resilient is something that some people are born with– but we can all learn to get better at it.”

Regardless of how you are served with rejection, figuring out how to deal with it determines how quickly you’ll succeed in finding a job.

Instead of sulking in your comfy coach, eating Ben and Jerry’s ice-cream, and psyching yourself out about never getting hired, follow these four pointers that Sills advises every job hunter to do:

1. Never give up!
2. Make a long schedule.
3. Make a realistic assessment.
4. Build credibility.

Never giving up means even if you get that email stating “thanks but no thanks” delete it, let it go and apply for another job. Always have a schedule of things that you should do each day while on the hunt. Step back and reassess the situation, realize that in this economy you are going to need to stand out, so be unique! Build experience (even if it’s unpaid) and contacts; gain that credibility.

“You want to use rejection as a feedback mechanism,” Sills says. “It’s not: ‘Why didn’t they want me?’ More constructive questions are: ‘What could I do to differentiate myself?’ and ‘How can I be more successful in this search?’”

Career coach Pamela Slim, best known for her inspirational blog Escape from Cubicle Nation, stresses that having multiple conversations– whether they end up being constructive or flat—can help you figure out what you want.

“You want to be clear with what is a good fit for you and what’s not and clearly not every company in the world is going to be the right match,” Slim says.

Slim also says it’s unrealistic for an employer to find every single interviewee to be a perfect fit.

“When you have the expectation that everybody in the world, everybody you encounter, needs to be in harmony with you, you’re basically bumping up against human nature,” Slim says. “It’s not divined that way. You can certainly have respect for every person out there, but it doesn’t mean that you are going to have the kind of connection that is highly compatible.”

So if you keep meeting our frenemy Rejection, remember, it’s not the end of the world. It’s just a little bump in the road. Keep your head up, and choose not to wallow in self-defeat.

Need little more inspiration? Slim recommends the book “The Four Agreements” by Don Miguel Ruiz, which she says has been “a super useful reference” over the years.

–Erin Lucido

Editor’s note: Check out the first post from our newest guest blogger, recent college grad Samantha Hyde!

When I graduated college in the spring of 2009, I was confident I would get a job quickly; probably not my dream job, but at least a job. I was prepared to work nights and weekends, make coffee runs and answer phones all while barely making enough money to pay the rent. I had prepared myself in college for the job search. I was definitely a go-getter. At my first magazine club meeting, I went up to the president, introduced myself, and said, “You’re going to be seeing a lot of me around here.” I got great internships, took great classes and won awards. I was ready.

But here I am, more than a year later, living at my parents’ house and still haven’t even been asked for an interview. The only feedback I’ve been able to get from employers? “Just be patient. It’s a tough economy.” Well, I’m tired of being patient. I’m ready to recreate that go-getter attitude from college.

Since I haven’t been able to find a job near where I live, I decided it is time to move where there are more job opportunities: New York City.  I’ve always dreamt of moving to the Big Apple, but financially, it has never been a real possibility. My senior year, Jane Chesnutt, then Editor-In-Chief of Woman’s Day magazine, spoke for a small group of students. She told us, “I would never look at a resume if I knew they didn’t live in New York City.” Her words were always in the back of my head.

My family thinks I’m crazy. After all, they see how many bills come in the mail. My magazine faculty advisor also warned me against moving, recounting stories of past students not making it and not being happy. But, I’m convinced if I don’t move, I won’t get a job.

After doing some online research, including the advice page of ed2010.com, a professional magazine group headquartered in the city, many success stories include something to the effect of, “I decided it was time to just pack up my bags and go…”

I also talked with Marie Claire’s Editorial Assistant Anna Maltby. She was fortunate to find a job immediately after graduation at a magazine where she previously interned. “It would be great if you could just snag a job from afar based on your achievements, but the reality is that if a magazine can’t call you and ask you to come in for an interview later that day, they’re just going to go with the next person on the list who can,” she told me.

I got similar feedback from a deputy art director at a national men’s magazine. Like me, she didn’t want to move without a job, so she got a job at a smaller city magazine, and when she (and her portfolio) was ready, she started setting up informal interviews. I am not opposed to that route, but I haven’t had any luck on the local level. I’m trying to increase my odds, but does that justify going broke?

My conclusion, whatever my decision, I need to commit 100 percent to finding a job. No more will I be submitting an online application and wait for three days for no answer. My time will now consists of networking, informational interviews, networking, revamping my website and portfolio, and did I mention networking? I can’t put it off any more. It is time to move out of my parent’s house!

–Samantha Hyde

Samantha Hyde graduated from the University of Texas in 2009. During her time spent in Austin, she interned and contributed to Austin Monthly, Texas Parks & Wildlife and Texas Highways magazine. She served as president of the magazine club and editor-in-chief of a college magazine, burntORANGE. Her issue, “How to be a Longhorn,” won second place in general excellence at the 2009 AEJMC awards.