So you’ve submitted your resume, filled out an application and received confirmation you’re being considered for the position you want. Though it may seem like the work is over, it’s not entirely true.
Never forget that we live in a digital, online era — a time in which we can let thousands of people know exactly what we’re doing at any given moment with the touch of a screen. I know it might seem fun to upload those photos of you and your girlfriends taken at ladies night when you a drink in each hand, but if you’re on the job hunt, think twice about what you allow people to see.
According to a 2014 CareerBuilder survey, the number of employers turning to social media when considering a job applicant is increasing. According to a post on its website, “CareerBuilder found that 51 percent of employers who research job candidates on social media said they’ve found content that caused them to not hire the candidate, up from 43 percent (in 2013) and 34 percent in 2012.”
Listed below are the reasons hiring managers and company owners give for passing up a candidate.
The top five reasons are:
- Job candidate posted provocative or inappropriate photographs or information
- Job candidate posted information about them drinking or using drugs
- Job candidate had poor communication skills
- Job candidate had discriminatory comments related to race, gender, religion etc.
- Job candidate lied about qualifications
A prime example of a boss doing a little digging on potential employees (or in this case, an already hired employee) occurred in February. According to a USA Today article, a woman by the Twitter handle of @Cellla was fired from her job at Texas pizza restaurant Jett’s Pizza before she even started. The night before her first day on the job, @Cellla tweeted, “Ew I start this (expletive) job tomorrow.” The next day, before she had the chance to go in, her boss responded to her tweet with, “And…no you don’t start that job today! I just fired you! Good luck with your no money, no job life!”
The first thing I always do when deciding on a summer intern for my newspaper is Google the candidates. I look at their Facebooks, Twitters, Instagrams, articles posted online — whatever I can find. Once a company employs you, you become a representation of that company. Hiring managers and dental practice owners will not want to hire someone they don’t believe adequately portrays their practice’s mission. And I for one would not like to Google my dentist or dental hygienist and find photos of them posted on social media at 3 a.m. partying at a bar the night before they worked on my mouth.
Make your online presence presentable. I always live by the “can children see this?” rule. Because I worked with middle school aged children in my last job (and yes, almost all of them had either a Facebook or an Instagram), I would not post anything on social media that wasn’t acceptable for a ten-year-old kid to see.
If you feel as if you might need a little social media revamp, go fix it immediately. Get rid of those posts bashing your old boss and coworkers; get rid of those drunken photos you posted when you were downtown last week; get rid of the cursing in your statuses and tweets. Always present yourself as someone you would want to hire.
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