The Importance of Social Media

I am sure by now you have come to realize that being active on various, and numerous, social media sites can be of great benefit to your job search. More and more companies go to the web when it comes to finding and especially researching candidates. So, it becomes more and more important to have profiles on multiple different platforms, and use them to network and connect as much as you can.

Another important thing to remember is to keep all of your different sites updated and active. It is too easy to become a heavy user of your favorite site and end up letting the other ones lapse. If you are actively in job search mode, do what you can to keep them all going strong and looking professional. These sites become your brand, and must each be kept up and always presentable to potential hiring agents. I like how Whitney White stated it recently:

The day you create an account on social media is the first step in defining your digital footprint. Whether you realize it or not, you are walking, talking, tweeting, posting, brand – just like Nike, Campbell’s, McDonald’s, or Wal-Mart. Although you may not be a well-sought household name, you have the responsibility of protecting your reputation and projecting a positive image that shows your personality, wisdom, and strengths.

This also means you must be particularly careful just what you post on your sites. There are more and more stories of people losing their job over what they may consider funny posts. While it is possible to control the flow of what you post with certain security settings, that is never a failsafe, since many of the postings that caused job dismissals have becomes viral and were copied and spread to other sites. Once you post something, it pretty much becomes public material that can be copied, pasted, shared, and passed around for all to see. In just 2013 alone, here are some of the reported cases of postings that led to job losses:

January - February

• Server, Chelsea Welch fired from her job at Applebee’s after posting a customer’s receipt on the online website, Reddit

• Social Media Manager, Poppy Rose live tweets department layoff from the HMV corporate Twitter account. Story goes viral as managers are scrambling to reset corporate Twitter account password

• ‘Bitter Barista’ Matt Watson was fired over his snarky blog

• 23 year old Colorado teacher was fired for tweeting naked twerk photos and pictures of her smoking marijuana

• KFC worker fired for posting photo of her licking a bowl of potatoes on social media  

March 

• Adria Richards is fired from SendGrid after she tweeted about conference attendees discussing topics she found to be inappropriate and of a sexual nature. SendGrid announces her termination via Twitter and Facebook

• Groupon CEO, Andrew Mason announces that he was fired via Twitter to employees, investors and customers

• Australian Miners fired for posting Harlem Shake video on YouTube

• Carly McKinney, 23 year old high school teacher, was fired after tweeting nude photos of herself while calling her students jailbait and talks about getting high

June - July

• Taco Bell fires employee for licking tacos and posting photo of it on Faceboo

• Subway employees fired for posting pictures on Instagram and Twitter of male private parts in sandwiches and frozen urine

• Investigative reporter, Shea Allen fired after posting a confession on her blog that included sleeping on the job and stealing mail to snag a story

September

• Employee, Marina Shifrin resigns from job using a recorded dance video. Oddly enough, the company produces videos

October - November

• White House Aide, Jofi Joseph, fired after admitting he was a Twitter Troll.

• High School Coach Was Fired For This Facebook Photo.

Aside from going through your sites and cleaning up questionable material, one simple way to see what is “out there” about you is to just Google search yourself. This is probably the first thing a hiring agent may do when beginning to research you.  Remember to do so using various formats of your name, especially if you have nicknames or shortened names (i.e. searching for both William and Bill, or Richard, Rich and Dick). If you find undesirable information out there, begin taking whatever steps possible to have it changed or removed.

When it comes to what not to post on your sites, a simple rule of thumb is to always keep it professional at all times. Avoid negative talk about your job or prior job/employees/managers/companies. Do not post or document any illegal or borderline questionable activities, like crazy partying, drinking and driving, public drunkenness, drug use, lewd behavior, foul language, etc. Anything that you have the slightest inkling may be misconstrued by anyone else seeing it is better avoided. Even if something you post is simply misunderstood, it casts a dark shadow over things and can hurt you in the long run.

Just remember, yes social media is a fun way to interact with friends, but it is totally a public forum, regardless of your security settings. What may seem like a harmless joke, photo, or comment today, may be misconstrued and cause you problems in the future with your employer. So whether you are looking for a job, or currently working, bear in mind the impact that social media has had on others who have suffered negative consequences.

Image courtesy of ddpavumba at FreeDigitialPhotos.net