According to a CareerBuilder survey, 45% of employers comb social media sites for info on potential employees. This means that the next time you apply for a job or look for a new client, the odds are nearly 50/50 that the person whom you need to impress will look you up on Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, or Twitter.
What are they looking for? The listed items of impropriety include inappropriate photos, references to using drugs (including alcohol), trashing previous employers, and sharing confidential information from their old jobs. Even relatively innocuous postings that broadcast poor communication skills or a politically incorrect or discriminatory joke may drop you from a list of people-to-hire.
“But I’m not looking for a job,” you might be thinking. “Who cares if I post photos from wild parties, or badmouth my ex-boss? Who’s going to see that in a year or two?”
In case you missed the memo, the internet has a long memory. Anything that you post on any social media sites or web forums will be cached, and even the not-so-technologically-savvy among us can extract old ramblings from years ago. And with recent privacy policy changes taking place at Facebook, your “private” posts may not remain so. Social media companies can change their policies at any time, and your photos and updates may be viewed by those whom you never expected to have access.
What you say can hurt you in the future; be responsible about social media outlets! If you wouldn’t want something that you say or do published in the newspaper, do not post it online. You never know who might see it.
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© Jennifer Anthony, Nationally Published Resume Expert & Career Strategist
E-mail: jenn [AT] jennwrites [DOT] com | Web: http://www.jennanthony.info
Disclaimer: Advice offered in this article is not comprehensive and is intended for a wide-range of readers. Individual results may vary based on geographic location, local economies, market saturation for a particular industry, academic background, adaptability to workforce changes, and/or continued motivation. Contact a professional resume writer to discuss your unique situation.
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