With application deadlines for grad jobs fast approaching, you might be feeling ready to graduate and join the Real Adult world. You get to escape the droning lecturers and finally earn a decent amount of cold hard cash.

But while you’re enthusiastically applying for every job you’re remotely interested in, there’s someone else you should be thinking about – online you! They’re just like real you, except all your potential employers can see every dirty detail about them.

It’s really not worth risking a status from Year 10 ruining your career prospects, so we’ve compiled a list of things all students should do to make sure your online presence is graduation-ready too.

#1 Create A Legit LinkedIn Account 

Doesn’t “I’d like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn” sound so much more mature than “oh yeah, just add me on Facebook”?

While LinkedIn isn’t the most exciting social network in the world, it’s an important one. Spend a couple of hours adding your resume to your profile and before you know it you’ll be rolling in overly formal networking messages.

The real advantage of LinkedIn, though, is the job search function. You can easily narrow your search down to the very specific ‘Netflix Content Reviewer’ job you’ve been looking for. It’ll also tell you if any connections (LinkedIn lingo for friends) have worked at the company, meaning you can hit them up for advice before you apply.

#2 Google Yourself 

You’ve probably googled yourself before, but have you done it properly?

Open a private browsing tab to make sure the search results aren’t tainted by your browsing history. Add your university or city to the search just to make sure you catch everything. Be sure to check images search too, because we can almost guarantee your old Myspace pictures will have made it on there.

If you find something you wouldn’t want your grandma to see, try and find a way to delete it on your end – you might want to find the password to your spam-filled Hotmail now just in case.

#3 Tidy Up Your Facebook

Now’s the time to be ruthless. Employers don’t care ‘that you had such a gr8 time at the beach with Emma xoxox’ in 2010. If there are any images you think might come across negatively to an employer, it’s probably best to delete them.

While you’re at it, make sure your security settings are water tight.

#4 Perfect Your Portfolio

This one’s particularly important if you’re looking at going into any sort of creative industry. Having a tidy portfolio that you can send to employers is ten times better than a mishmash of broken links and scanned PDFs.

Websites like Squarespace, Wix and WordPress allow you to create websites for free, where you can upload examples of your work and a sick bio. While you’re on a roll, Canva will pimp out your resume so it’s always at the top of the (electronic) pile.

#5 Separate Your Personal And Professional Accounts

Like to post party pics on Insta? Make it private. Turn on tag review on Facebook to carefully curate your tagged public photos before they show up on your profile.

Feel free to share your LinkedIn at networking events, but maybe keep your Snapchat for your mates. And please, if you haven’t already, make an email with your name (and nothing but your name) in it.

Georgia Griffiths is a meme queen who occasionally studies Journalism/Law at UNSW.

(Lead image: The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt/Netflix)