How to Clean Up Your Social Media Accounts Before Applying for Jobs | Miki's Hope

How to Clean Up Your Social Media Accounts Before Applying for Jobs

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Background checks are just the beginning for today's job seekers. Many employers now look into applicants' social media accounts before they make a hiring a decision. If your social media profiles paint a very different picture of yourself than what you want employers to see, you may need to do some digital cleaning before you begin the job search.

Comb Through Your Photos

Image via Flickr by philosophygeek

A survey of over 2,300 hiring managers revealed that of those who looked at applicants' social media pages, nearly half had rejected someone due to inappropriate photos or information. If you have pictures that depict drinking, drug use, partying, or sexually suggestive poses and attire, you should delete these immediately. Nothing presents a more unprofessional image than graphic photos of your personal life.

Update Your Profile Picture

Updating your profile picture to something that's professional is a simple step that will improve the entire look and feel of your page. Forget silly self-taken photos and opt for something that you wouldn't mind featuring on a company website. Your photo should show you as you want potential clients and bosses to see you.
Proofread Your Posts

More than a third of hiring managers who looked at social media sites passed up an applicant because of poor grammar and communications skills. If your tweets overflow with text message shorthand and slang or your Facebook and Google+ posts have blatant grammatical and spelling errors, you need to correct or delete them. You're judged not only by what you say but how you say it.

Consider the Content

The content you post is as important as the grammar. Badmouthing previous employers resulted in an immediate rejection for 33% of surveyed hiring managers. Twenty-eight percent of hirers saw prejudices about race, religion, or gender as cause to drop an applicant. The content on your social media pages should support the professional image that you want to project. Avoid controversial topics or offensive posts of any kind.

Be Very Thorough

Look over all of your social media accounts and comb through your profiles carefully. The books and movies you like, blogs you follow, and friends you have may all reflect upon you either positively or negatively. LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ are all prime targets. While you don't need to tailor every aspect of yourself to your job, you do need to censor anything that conflicts with it. Resources like Reputation.com on Facebook can help you avoid major faux pas and present the proper image.

Understand Your Privacy Settings

Not all social media accounts are public, so make sure you understand what your potential employers can and can't see. If you still want to keep up an account for your outrageous pictures and racy anecdotes, consider doing so under a different name with a profile picture that's not easily identifiable as you.

In a world where privacy is often a thing of the past, you can never be too careful about what you put online. Assume that your boss and parents will see everything you post for the best protection from big blunders.

Author Bio:

Mandi Rogier writes and researches regularly on many topics including business, finance, and marketing. A number of sites and blogs feature her work including eHow and USA Today's Travel Tips.







15 comments :

Lisa Weidknecht said...

Excellent advice. Sure hope my kids are listening!!!

Unknown said...

These are some really good tips. So weird to think that we live in such a "transparent" world.

Wishing you a lovely day!

ann said...

Very good tips to follow. You must be careful with anything you put online or on the phone. It may come back to haunt you .Lots of business read employees emails.

Beck Valley Books said...

Crikey I had never thought about that before, some really good tips thanku and will be sharing this with my boys aswell x

Tamara @ Moms A Gourmet said...

Good advice, I know that colleges do the same. I try to stick with the if I don't want my grand children to look at the pictures and ask what I was doing and not be proud of it I don't post a pic.

MzBaker said...

That is very true, my husband is about to become an officer and they check everything. His facebook, credit report, background check, mental health, etc....

Trendy Cyndie said...

Good advice on the job hunting and social media. I don't think they should be able to do that though but just in case

Corinne said...

Great advice. A lot of companies check social media now. It's also a good reminder that our social media profiles are a projection of who we are so it's just a smart idea in general to manage that image.

Melinda Dunne said...

I completely agree with this. It is also becoming common for colleges to troll social media sites for applicants so I would also recommend sharing this information with your teens.

jenn said...

it's scary these days how much one can look into someone's private lives through the internet. oh well, glad i dont post inappropriate photos online, hehe. or else this is something i should worry about since im currently on a job hunt.

Anonymous said...

I never use mine except to enter giveaways and they are always family friendly. Good tips for those that feel the need to share everything, I have known people who have gotten fired over it.

Chubskulit Rose said...

These are great tips for those who have something totally wacky that could ruin job opportunities.

amiableamy said...

I read a lot of negative outcome because they posted something unfavorable. I hope they learned the lesson.

Nova said...

This is an excellent advice. In order to get hired we should have to clean those unnecessary photos in our pages. Sometimes, there are other people who thinks it's funny to have them post instead of keeping them in a private place.

Marms @ Home and Household said...

I might want to deactivate my account and make a new one? :)

 
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