I ran across a dated but relevant article this week. I felt compelled to share it with the Job Seekers who are staying tuned to our blogs.
I read “For Some Online Persona Undermines a Resume” written in June 2006 by Alan Finder and published by The New York Times.
At the time of this article web sites like Facebook and MySpace were just getting started. Today the article truer as more users and companies are using social media daily.
When applying for a job remember that recruiters, hiring managers and HR Directors are looking into your job history, education and social media profiles for “red flags”. For us this could be something that shows you left a job for reasons other than what you explained to us or that you show poor judgment in your personal choices.
When searching for a job, you’ll want to make sure that any internet profile has been “cleaned up”. Be sure it’s something you wouldn’t mind showing your grandma. This includes your status message, your photos, pages you are fan of and groups you join. If friends post items that would portray you in a negative light to a future employer, ask them to remove it.
The sad truth is, you may never know why you didn’t get called in for the interview, or why the job was given to some one else. One possibility is that it was your social media profile.
Here are some tips to help you prepare for your job search:
1) Set privacy settings on social media tools, Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, Foursquare and others.
2) Remove all comments, statuses, friends, fan pages and photos that would cause a future employer to have a poor first impression of you.
3) Create and maintain an accurate LinkedIn Profile. Recruiters will compare your resume to this, so be accurate in both places.
4) Use your given name or proper alias in emails and social media. sxygrlsd@xyz.com is not professional.
5) If you are working with a recruiter, ask them to search you and give you pointers on cleaning up your online appearances!
Happy Job Hunting!
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