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The author used clear structural and stylish features. Both visual and written content

were used to persuade his specific audience to follow a series of steps to improve their

chances of finding a job, as well as what and why employers will be searching about them.

The approach was based on what the employers look online about their potential employees.

Through a series of recommendations and explanations, the author presented himself as an

expert and the blog as an authoritative source of information in regard to this particular topic.

The purpose that the author aims to achieve is, on top of generating trust and authority in his

specific audience, is to convince them to follow specific steps before applying for a job. They

are practical recommendations. The way this was achieved was through structural and stylish

features. The entire article was written with a structure where each section prepares the reader

for the next section, with clear instructions of what to do and each section also responds or is

linked to the previous section. The text uses expository writing styles to inform and explain

what has to be done and why it has to be done. There is also a persuasive style as the author

also intends to persuade his audience not only about the site's authority but also about his

argument (what will employers look about you online). Finally, there are descriptive elements

or visual elements, that are used to capture the reader's attention using pictures with specific

symbols that emphasise the written message.

The first structural and stylish elements used by the author to introduce the topic are

regarding the audience and context. The title is clear, and it is a question: 'What kind of stuff

do employers search for when I apply for a job?'. As a result, the entire article is a response to

the title. The article can be of interest to everyone however, it is a specific answer to those

looking for a job. Thus, the introduction uses a style of question and answer, where someone

looking for a job writes to the Lifehacker asking about what kind of information employers

will be looking online such as background checks. Then the Lifehacker responds briefly that

most employers will be doing a bit of research before they hire. Then he goes to explain
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what is it that employers will be searching. This short and brief introduction is accompanied

by an image. It is an image of a person looking for a job, with the head of a horse and a

Facebook symbol in the mouth. This article was written in 2013, in a time when Facebook

was the strongest and most popular social media networks. Thus, Facebook symbolises the

platform where all of the online private information of a person will be found, and thus,

where employers will be searching for information. But in general terms, Lifehacker explains

how to optimise, improve or clean unwanted information online.

The first image used by the author is one that highlights the importance of social

media, in this case, as already mentioned, Facebook. However, the most obvious search place

is Google. Thus, once the topic was introduced, stating that employers will most likely be

doing online checks, the author starts with the first section after the introduction: Google

Search.

The first and most basic search anyone would do when looking for something is do a

Google search, and in this case, if an employer wants to find more information about a

person, most likely will be doing a google search. This article is not only about responding to

his specific audience what will be searched about them but also how can anyone find out

what others will find about them. Thus, the first thing to do is to search for oneself, and so the

author provides instructions. It was mentioned already that this article contains expository

style because it explains about the importance of background check and how online

information works. It uses persuasive style because there is another message in the

background, which is to persuade the audience that 1) Lifehacker is an authority in the topic

and 2) that it is necessary to follow the steps provided to improve the chances of getting a

job. And finally, there is a descriptive style were on top of writing the author used images to

complement the written message, to emphasise certain ideas. In this section, the image is

used as a teaching method. A screenshot of a name search was used to show the audience
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what should they be doing to find out what it is online about themselves, which is what their

employers will be doing.

To emphasise his authority on the topic, the author also presents other articles that

complement and teach his audience about cleaning their profiles online, as well as expository

recommendations regarding the use of personal or professional identities. The author is

showing off his knowledge as well as emphasising how the site is an authority in the topic.

To do this, he inserts other articles with all the information needed, all from the same blog. In

other words, the audience is realising that in that blog they will find all they need to know.

Throughout the entire article, there are several recommended articles with links, where the

reader can continue with the search. This first section uses the three styles for it teaches, it

persuades, and it uses images to emphasise the messages.

The general structure of the article is a question as a title, an introduction to the

answer of the question that uses another question and answer style: a message of a member of

the audience and a brief response by Lifehacker. Then there are three main sections, a Google

Search, which will most likely show results from social media accounts and other online

contributions, a background check which will contain more private information such as credit

checks, criminal checks and so on. And the final section is about previous salaries and

employers. These are the three sections, which are linked with each other. Most information

can be found online if one knows how and where to search. Thus, again, the author of the

article explains how it is done and how they can improve or clean any unwanted information.

The background check is generally done to make sure that there are no past criminal records,

however, other information such as credit records, military service, and other similar checks

can also be found.

The purpose of the article, which is quite short, is not to write absolutely everything

there. Instead, the author added links to other articles that explain further certain instructions
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or claims. For example, there is a list of details about a person that must be up to date, clean,

and with the information that one would want an employer to see to make a good impression.

But these are not all explained in this article, instead, the writer mentioned it and linked it to

the appropriate and specific article. In doing so, it is making sure that the audience realises

once more, that all the information required will be found in Lifehacker. Furthermore, the

writer made it easy to find through the links. A screenshot was used as an image to show the

type of background check available of a person. His recommendation is to start by stalking

oneself because by doing that is the only way to know what is out there, what is good and

what has to be cleaned or improved. And so, he shows how to stalk. The images used in each

section emphasise the written content. Other images are those of other blog articles that

contain further information or instructions.

Finally, the last section is about previous salaries and employers. The main

recommendation is not to lie. This is because employers will most likely contact previous

employers for both references and to check the information provided. But also, because

today's social media channels such as LinkedIn contain contact information about

organisations, companies, and so on, and it is easier to contact co-workers from the same

company or ask for references online.

It is interesting how the author of the article uses external sources to highlight his

authority in the topic, in this last section CNN was mentioned, and a survey from SHRM with

statistical information to give a more formal style and strengthen his claims.

The final words are simple and straightforward. It is important to clean all the social

networks and keep the resume honest. The article was written in a form of question and

answer and the form of a letter, it begins with a message asking a question, the Lifehacker

responds, and ends also in the form of a letter wishing the best of luck in the job-hunt.
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By the end of the article, the reader found step by step information, that was

supported with images, some of them showing how to perform certain tasks. Throughout the

article more information linked to the appropriate article was provided, making sure that the

reader was persuaded that the writer knew exactly what he was writing about. The context

and audience were taken into great consideration for all the written content as well as the

images and other links provided were all in relation to what the article was about. There were

no misleading information or articles. Everything that was written, and all the images

fulfilled a particular role, either to teach or explain, to persuade and to emphasise and give

authority to something already written. The article was simple, brief, well-structured which

made it easy to read and follow the instructions and explanations. Moreover, the three

objectives of persuading the audience of the authority, explaining the reasons for it, as well as

emphasising it with images were successful.