When you are applying for a new job, you should be extra careful about your social media presence. That’s because most of the recruiters tend to go through your social media profiles before providing you with a job offer. If your social media profiles create a negative impression on you, you will not be able to secure the job offer. That’s where we thought of letting you know about the most prominent job issues that you can make when you are applying for a job. Once you are aware of the issues, you will be able to overcome them.
Search for your name on Google
To begin with, you need to search for your name on Google. All the recruiters are doing this. After the search, you can see what kind of information comes about you on the search engine results.
After doing the Google search, you need to pay special attention towards your personal information. You will be able to see a lot of personal information, such as your email address, physical address phone numbers, pictures of you and even your location. It is better if you can do this research on the Incognito mode. Then you will be able to see the exact same results that your recruiter will see.
In case if you see any controversial information about you on Google, you need to take appropriate measures to get rid of them. For example, a post of you, complaining about another employer, or even a picture of you having a great time in the bar will create a negative impression. Therefore, you should get rid of them as soon as possible.
As the next thing, you will need to set up a Google alert for the name. Since you are not in a position to do searches for your name in Google, it is better if you can set up an alert. Every time a new result with your name is added to Google search results, you can get an alert. This can make the life easy for you.
Separate your personal information and professional information
As the next thing, you need to make sure that you are separating your personal information from professional information. When you take a look at the social media accounts, you will notice these two sides. However, we don’t have a clear line in between these two sides.
The personal information that should belong to your Facebook account should not end up with your LinkedIn professional account. You need to understand for what purpose the social media network has been designed. With that in mind, you can proceed to the next step and make sure that you get your work done accordingly.
Refrain from posting about controversial topics
It is a must for you to make sure that you don’t post about controversial topics on social media. For example, you should never post about political views or religious views. If you have already posted them, you need to get them removed as soon as possible. Otherwise, you will not be able to get a good impression from the job recruiters.
You need to think about using social media to share your day to day life moments. When it comes to social media networks like LinkedIn, you should focus more on sharing your career achievements and milestones.
If you are still not convinced, here’s a list of some of the post types, which you should never publish on social media. For example, you should never post complaints about your work or your boss. It is recommended not to publish any photos of you partying as well. The political and religious rants you have should be taken off from social media. Most importantly, you need to make sure that you don’t upload posts with violent language or vulgar content. The relationship problems and the personal issues that you come across must be taken away from social media.
Increase the privacy of your social media accounts
One of the best things that you can do at the time of searching for a job is to increase the privacy of the social media accounts. Social media networks such as Facebook provides you with the ability to do it. All you have to do is to visit the Privacy Settings and take control over it. You can also limit the past posts. Then you will be able to stay away from the frustration of controlling the privacy of old posts. You can allow Facebook to do that automatically.
It’s recommended for you to take a look at the timeline and tagging settings as well. You can take better control over these settings and see who can see the tagged photos of you.
Keep your professional accounts public
Last but not least, you need to make sure that you keep the professional accounts visible to the public. The recruiters wish to go through at least some of the details about you from your social media networks. Making your professional accounts visible to them can be considered as one of the best things that you can do.
Having no presence on the internet is not a good sign for the recruiters and hiring managers as well. You need to showcase that you are fluent with the social media platforms and you are a promising candidate. This will be one of the most important skills, which can add value to your profile. Therefore, you need to keep the professional accounts visible to public.
Your LinkedIn profile can always be kept in public mode. Then the recruiters can go through it and receive more information about you.
Final Words
Now you know how to deal with your social media accounts, so that you can reduce the negative impacts that you can go through and increase your chances of securing the job. All the job seekers are strongly encouraged to focus on these tips.
