How a Bad Social Media Profile Can Cost You a Job.

When you find your dream job and apply for it you wouldn’t put anything in your CV or cover letter that could jeopardize the opportunity, right? It’s a little-known fact though, that you could be endangering your chances of landing that job without even knowing it. For instance, over 70% of employers vet their candidates via social media websites, sometimes before even bringing candidates in to interview and a bad social media profile can cost you in the professional world.

It’s a simple matter now for employers to search the internet and look at your profiles on a variety of social media websites. There are even companies that specialize in providing these social media search services, and the information they find can be very damaging to job prospects. Racist or violent comments, derogatory posts, photographs featuring the applicant in compromising situations, and jokes about recent world tragedies can all sour a potential employer’s impression of the applicant. Even vague comments that could be construed as racist or anti-immigrant can raise concerns.

With many qualified candidates interviewing for jobs, this can make the difference between being hired and spending more time on the job search.

A bad social media profile can also cost you a job that you already have. Many employers periodically search employee social media profiles, and evidence of behavior that is in conflict with the company’s honor code or that reflects poorly on the company may result in disciplinary action. In one recent case, a young woman Paris Brown who was hired by Kent Police to be Britain’s first Youth Police Crime Commissioner was later found to have a social media profile that contained threatening and racist comments. When her poor judgement in posting these comments was exposed by the press, she was forced to resign.

Although many people see their social media profiles as private grounds in which they can freely vent, express their views, and display amusing pictures, it is important to remember that social media is an open forum, and that comments and pictures never really go away once they are posted and seen by others. 

There are two ways to protect from career damage due to a bad social media profile. The first is to be extremely cautious. Never post anything on a social media profile that you would not show your employer in person.

Photographs depicting alcohol or drug use or nudity, violent comments, and negative comments directed at your current or past employer should all be avoided. If you do choose to post questionable material, you can protect yourself in a second way: by developing a split digital personality. Keep two social media profiles, one private and one public. Your public profile should be immaculately professional. Your private profile can contain your more questionable material, but it should be kept under digital lock and key. Keep high security settings on your private material to limit its ability to be viewed on routine searches.

Remember, no security setting is fool-proof. Even the most careful precautions cannot entirely prevent your employer seeing something damaging. If in doubt, the best approach is to leave it out.

Social media can be fun, and if it’s used properly, it can be a great way to network professionally. But it’s important to remember that nothing you post is truly private and to evaluate your risks, especially if you are applying for a new position. Most employers will look at your social media profile, so keep it clean and professional to maximise your chances of success.

Author Bio:
Marie Warren writes on behalf of Recruitment Revolution an on line recruitment specialist who have refined using the internet to get the job you really want. Marie has worked in recruitment during the last ten years and has a great deal of experience in using the internet to market your-self via social media. Marie enjoys reading, walking and socializing in her spare time.

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This entry was posted on Friday, May 17th, 2013 at 10:45 am and is filed under Career Coaching, Job Search, Online Career Space, Personal Branding, Social Media. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.