Don’t let Social Media Ruin Your Career

Social media is a powerful tool, so having a questionable presence or reputation online can really leave a poor taste in your employers mouth. It can also harm you getting role in the first place. So many employers use social media to screen candidates prior to hiring, with this in mind your social media could be the difference between you landing your new role or not.

If you are active on social media, here are things to avoid posting:

• Spelling and grammar errors
• Political rants
• Drug use/ Alcohol consumption
• Showing off wealth and big purchases
• Mocking your customers or work colleagues
• Inappropriate photos
• Posting/tweeting during office hours

When it comes to cleansing your social media, search your name in search engines such as Google and check the results including images. Anything associated with your name which is negative could impact your job or your job search. Check for any controversial statements that you could have made in the past, or photos attached to old social media accounts. It is really important to log in to old social media accounts and delete any old posts or request for any old accounts to be deleted before you apply for any new jobs.

Try to keep all of your public social media as professional as possible and instead use your social media to show your work. Try using your social media as an online portfolio displaying examples of your work or showing your interests in your industry. You could even start a blog discussing interests in your field.

Platforms such as LinkedIn are great to build your professional network, but do not shy away from other social media. For example, telling your friends via Facebook that you’re looking for a job may lead to them sharing it, speeding up your job hunt. You could also start conversations on Twitter about interesting news in your industry.