Social Media & Your Job Search – Please Don’t Post That Party Pic

There’s no doubt about it, these days we all spend a decent amount of our time on social networks.  Whether it’s checking out the latest viral video on YouTube, confirming our attendance to a friend’s birthday party on Facebook or searching for a new recipe on Pinterest – it’s become an everyday occurrence in our lives and that isn’t going to change (unless you move to some remote jungle location).

When preparing to search for a new career opportunity, you need to be sure that all of your social profiles are in check.  Here are a few pointers to help you make sure you get started on the right foot:

Is your Facebook profile a picture you shot gunning a few beers with your friends?  Guess what, not the greatest first impression.  First thing you should do is change that immediately.  Second, make sure your privacy settings are set to friends only.  This way, a complete stranger will not be able to browse your albums and find out exactly what you did at that Halloween party back in university.  Facebook pages rank very high within Google searches – so be smart. 

The same rules apply for Twitter.  It’s great if you want to share what you ate for lunch today – but try to stay away from complaining about your current job, how you just had a terrible interview or any other negative comments that might affect your job search.  Also, it might be a good idea to keep the profanity down to a minimum.  And for all you potty mouths out there, if you’re going to do it, don’t include a Twitter link on your CV – or you’re just asking for trouble.

When it comes to video sharing sites like YouTube, you have to follow these similar guidelines.  Be sure that whatever you’re posting is somewhat appropriate.  If you’re going on a rant about something – it’s probably a better idea to share it with your friends, in person.  If you posted a video a few years back that you aren’t so proud about now, then just log into your account and delete it.  You can also remove any tags in the video that might be associated to you, or make the video private. 

Social media is a fantastic tool and has many positive aspects to it (more so than negative).  That being said, you should consider your online profiles as a massive database – tracking every picture and piece of information you choose to share with the outside world.  If you’re searching for a new career opportunity, this breadcrumb trail of digital history could come back to bite you.  Make sure you take the necessary steps to prevent that from happening!