www.fastcompany.com: You probably already know recruiters are looking at your LinkedIn page, but what about your other social media platforms? You know, the ones where you post pictures of your latest vacation, share what you had for dinner and occasionally tag your friends in memes. Why, you might wonder, would a recruiter possibly be interested in viewing things like that?
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When I was in high school, there was a week or two in the middle of the college application process where everyone redid their social media and made sure that there weren’t any inappropriate status updates or pictures from parties, but then everyone created a finsta to counteract that, which started a whole new way of sharing information on social media. I have always wondered whether recruiters actually take the time to investigate social media pages beyond linkedin and facebook, but that’s just because if I’m looking up someone in the professional world, it’s more work to look for them on Instagram than to just look at the first websites that show up when you Google Search their names. I do think that Instagram and Twitter would be good perceptions of a person’s character, but do recruiters really have the time for that if they’re looking at hundreds of job applicants?
It is so important to recognize that social media is publicly available to so many people to see, and that everything you post can come back to haunt you one day in the future. A local principal in my hometown would always tell students do not post anything on social media that you would not want your teachers to see or your parents to see. I always try to follow that rule, but this article outlines specific methodology by which employers are analyzing social media to determine if you are a good candidate for their job. I appreciate how this article breaks down each platform and explains what recruiters are going to see on each platform and how that is going to be used to evaluate each candidate. It seems like the best approach is to limit your public profile as much as possible, because even the best intentioned posts can be taken out of context. Ultimately it seems like employers care about your judgement on social media, because that can be a barometer of your judgement in the workplace.
Given the prevalence of social media in contemporary society, it should come as a surprise to no one that recruiters look you up on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and other sites or apps.After all, hiring a person is never solely about qualifications, which is why the interview exists. Hiring people need to gauge character as well. If a person is very qualified for a job, but has an abrasive personality, they likely will not get hired. Seeing as how social media platforms are an extension of our public identities, it seems clear that hiring types would seek to investigate at least the top candidates for a job more in-depth before the interview using the tools that social media offers. This is why my personal standard of etiquette on social media is as follows. I ask myself a simple question: "Would I be okay with my grandmother seeing this?" If not, it probably isn't something I should make public anyways.
I like this article because it gives a good breakdown of what not to post where but I feel as though this information is old news. One question this article raises for me is what is the line between personal and private life. I understand an employer wanting to hire good moral people who aren’t posting inappropriately online but what is the boundary between a background check and an invasion of privacy. I’m not the person to post pictures of me partying or saying offensive things but I find it a little bit intrusive how far some recruiters will go to make sure they are hiring a qualified candidate. I’m not saying I haven’t done a quick Facebook search people that I’ve worked with to see more about their life but I don’t know if I could feel comfortable stalking someone who I was hiring and making an accurate opinion based on that. Technology has been good for connectedness but has been bad because people’s social and work lives have blended so much. It is so easy to friend a co-worker on Facebook but what about a boss or superior being friends with you on Facebook. Technology has clearly muddied waters.
I remember when, in high school, I might try to hijack my friends’ social media accounts and post something dumb, not explicit or provocative, just dumb. They would freak out about it, but I never really cared about keeping my social media super serious. Yes, I would never post inappropriate pictures, but I have definitely posted ridiculous ones. I feel like most companies probably do not take social media so incredibly serious… But it is hard to tell. I do not think a company would hire someone who had just a few silly photos on their instagram over someone whose instagram page is completely basic, but with someone who has an explicit photo on their Facebook over someone who is squeaky clean- maybe. I am not really sure how much sway the social media of the person in question, it probably is totally different from company to company. I guess the moral is just to be mindful.
Just like the rest of my young peers, the conversation of being careful of what you put on your social media is a very relevant and important idea to consider. When I was a senior in high school, I changed my name on facebook to something ridiculous because I thought that if colleges can't find me on social media it would better my chances of getting in, it was sort of a tradition of my high school. The more I've thought about it, the more ridiculous that sounds, like this article pointed out, one can use their social media as a selling point and a method to get the job faster. I also have mixed opinions on this because I don't think that ones social media should be what makes of breaks a job, of course no one should post awful or racy images and posts, but you should be able to be yourself on social media and still be able to be hired.
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