Social Media and You

It’s amazing that in this day and age how closely connected we are with people on the internet.  Social Media has given us the opportunity to connect with people around the world we never thought possible. Today you can find almost anything about a person just by looking at their Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. Social Media is your online digital fingerprint; it defines who you are as a person better than your closest friends.

This brings us to our group’s topic of Social Media. In particular, this blog will talk about the types of things that employers look for while “stalking” someone’s social media site to find information about you.  In simple terms, how Social Media can help or hurt you from getting a job.

Recently, we’ve always heard about keeping your Social Media site conservative, and watch what you put out there for people to see.  Some of this is true; we have to be careful what you post because you never know who could be potentially being glancing over your profile. However, believe it or not, as much as it is true to keep your profile clean and conservative, employers also want to see that other side of you. They aren’t looking for that black and white profile with a thousand privacy settings; throw some color in there to make it interesting.

With the changing of generations in the workforce, employers are more focused now more than ever in finding true creative talent. Megan Casserly, writer for Forbes magazine says, “Wedding pictures? Great. Baby photos? Even better. Photos with friends at parties, beaches and concerts? An absolute must.” Arguing that fact that you actually could get hired solely from what a recruiter saw on Facebook while looking at pictures of you having a blast at the concert last week. There’s a sense that a profile with no character has probably been scraped of some racy stuff or else the person has no social skills and won’t fit in.” (Meghan Casserly Forbes.com) Recruiters that use Social Media, have found 18% of the time they have hired candidates solely based on how their Social Media page. The common areas that they look for that they have hired people for are: “Profile provided a good feeling for the candidate’s personality and fit (50%), Profile supported candidate’s professional qualifications (39%), Candidate showed was creative (38%), Candidate showed solid communication skills (35%), Candidate was well-rounded (33%), Other people posted good references about the candidate (19%), Candidate received awards and accolades (15%)” (Kit Eaton Fastcompany.com)

This is not giving you full rights to post the keg-stand you are going to potential do at homecoming game next Saturday. Employers will still have their boundaries, and misuse of alcohol is one of them. Erik Sherrman, writer for jobs.aol.com says, “40% of hiring managers look at social networks of applicants to determine if they would be a good fit for the job.” Unfortunately, “1 out of every 10 applicants is denied from being hired because of things said and or posted on social networking sites.” (Sherman jobs.aol.com)

Employers look for certain things that could disqualify someone from getting the job. Those things include, “Provocative or inappropriate photos or posts, content about drinking or using drugs, bad-mouthing a previous employer, sharing confidential information from a previous employer, poor communications skills, discriminatory comments based on race, gender or religion and lies about qualifications” (Sherman jobs.aol.com) 35 % of the time employers have found something on a candidates profile that could cause the individual to not be hired. (Kit Eaton Fastcompany.com)

If you are worried about what you have on your Social Media site, don’t fret! Here are some tools you can use to help improve your site.

·         DO clean up digital dirt before you begin your job search. This includes sketchy photos and inappropriate comments or posts that could potentially look bad in the employers eyes

·         Do consider creating a professional Facebook page almost like a LinkedIn that way when an employer searches for you they might stumble upon the professional Facebook

·         Changing your last name to the middle, ex. Girls do this a lot, keeps random people (employers from finding them)

·         Do be positive on Social Media, no one wants to see a Debbie Downer

·         If you have inappropriate photos on Instagram, DELETE THEM!

·         If under 21, try to reframe from posting pictures of yourself drinking

·         Drunken twitter post and or pictures, remove them

·         If you are worried about certain things, you can always result in setting some things on your profile as private, or friends only. If you have pictures that project positive things, set them as public so the employer can see them

·         Logout and search yourself like anyone would and see if they randomly searched you

·         Google yourself and see what pops up under web search and images

 
Social Media is a very powerful tool; it can be used for many different ways. It’s completely up to you what you post or share with others. But be aware, what you post on the internet will probably most definitely stay on the internet. Whether you delete it or not, people have seen whatever you posted, and people will talk about it. The best piece of the advice is being careful what you post, but don’t be afraid to show off your personality, be true to yourself and always be positive.