Take a good look at your Twitter profile. Is it private or
public? Is your profile picture professional, or are you chugging a bottle of Merlot?
Are you tweeting about information that is relevant to your future career, or
are you tweeting about how much you drank the night before? These are all
questions that you need to ask yourself when job searching. Nowadays, employers
are strongly utilizing social media platforms to scope out their future
employees. However, will your profile make the cut?
Steinfield
goes into detail about what employers are specifically looking for in an
employee, based off of their social media profiles. First and foremost, always
make sure that you have an appropriate profile picture on all of your social
media platforms. Yes ladies, that means no “duck-face” poses! It has been
proven that recruiters are “turned off” when they do not see an “appropriate headshot.” Another biggie is to make sure you’re posting about information that
actually matters. For instance, if you’re looking to go into the sports field,
you will most likely be posting the latest information about sport teams.
Recruiters are interested in your trends, and how you interact with others by
using social media.
Another
aspect employers are looking for in their future employees is a thorough Linkedin
page. Linkedin is a huge networking site, and should be used whether or not you’re
a college student or professional. The amount of connections that you can have
on Linkedin is incredible, and you must take full advantage of the opportunity.
Not to mention, it’s free! Facebook and Twitter are also not just places to
post pictures and videos, but they too are just as important for professional
networking. Make sure you’re always following powerful leaders on Twitter that pertain
to your field of interest; you never know what could happen. Although, once
again, you need to make sure you take the proper privacy precautions if you do
not want professionals to see certain photos or posts.
So
remember, the next time you’re about to post a picture/video of yourself “twerking”
on the wall with you friends, make sure you remember who your publics are. You
never know what professional could be watching. Be smart with everything you do
on social media.
Duck faces will always come back to haunt you! The problem with young people and social media is they tend to not understand the reach and access of social media. A good piece of advice for anyone is to go back and edit their profiles on social media to eliminate any inappropriate material that may be detrimental in the future.
ReplyDeleteYou make some really valid points. Because social media is so immediate, people forget to think before tweeting or posting pictures on Facebook or Instagram. Pictures and content can have detrimental effects on getting a job.
ReplyDeleteWe talk about this in my interviewing class. I think it's very important that we upload the images that represent are brand. You don't want possible employers bringing pictures up of you with your breast out. Your Facebook and Instagram page should be pictures that represents you. I call them safe pictures, its smart to put pictures of family interaction or nice outfit pictures. Make sure the pictures are neutral and safe.
ReplyDelete