By Al Smith, columnist, Troy Media
Though George Orwell’s timing was few years off, Big Brother is indeed watching you.
You can lose a job offer because of your social media activity: according to Amy K. McDonnell’s 2012 CareerBuilder article, the chief targets of Human Resources’ research are Facebook and LinkedIn (65 per cent and 63 per cent respectively).
Admittedly, Facebook can be a useful tool in job search and posts many jobs, but I’m not a fan of its use while in transition.
Why?
They say, “What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas . . .” unless you have a friend with a cell phone and a Facebook account.
A few years ago there was a college professor in good standing at a small college who took a vacation to what’s affectionately known in the southern U.S. as the “Redneck Riviera” (the Florida panhandle). Like many of us on vacation, he enjoyed an adult beverage. A photo of him with a drink in hand was taken and posted on Facebook. Somehow the college was made aware of the posting.
So what, you ask? That’s no big deal!
Wrong!
Unfortunately, there was a morals clause in his contract. He was immediately dismissed. He was well-liked as a professor, he was on vacation, he was hundreds of miles away from campus and he was doing no harm to anyone. He lost his job anyway. And this isn’t an isolated case.
Before I had any hard evidence to prove my point, I warned one guy against posting some racist and sexist comments in a LinkedIn group (I’m the moderator of a couple 25,000+ member groups). As you might imagine with a jerk like this, he read me the riot act. (I’m happy to report that he is STILL jobless two years hence.)
I now offer statistics to back my supposition. In the same CareerBuilder article referenced earlier, McConnell states that 34 per cent of employers didn’t offer a candidate a job because of social media discoveries!
Some of their reasons include:
- Provocative photograph
- Evidence of drinking or drug use
- Lying about qualifications
- Discriminatory comments related to race, religion, gender, etc.
Holy Schmoley!
Now’s when it really gets Orwellian.
In 2013, CareerBuilder had a company (Inavero) conduct a survey of 2,775 Canadian and U.S. hiring managers regarding their use of social media to research candidates during the hiring process. Their findings are astounding:
- 48 per cent of employers use Google or other search engines
- 44 per cent use Facebook
- 27 per cent monitor a candidate’s Twitter activity
- 23 per cent review comments and posts
- Some of this activity occurs prior to the candidate getting a call!
But I am not suggesting that job seekers not use social media.
Just the opposite in fact.
Since you know companies are researching you for both positives and negatives, I want you to use this to your advantage. Think about this like when you conduct a Google search for something. How many pages of results do you review? If you’re like most of us, you don’t go past three pages, right? It’s the same for them, too.
By posting and commenting on industry or company related news or items of interest, you not only increase your chances of getting found by recruiters and talent acquisition managers for jobs that are never posted (reportedly as high as 85 per cent of the total), but the more material you have out there the better the chance that inappropriate things that might have been posted about you will move down below page three.
Should you post early, post often?
Yes. Give them what they are looking for from candidates. Start by conducting a search of yourself on a monthly basis. Then begin to show off your personality, professional image and communication skills. Prove there is substance to your purported professional image and your personal brand. Let your creative side shine. And add proof to all the above by including references and a third party proof source.
Now that you know what they are looking for, let Big Brother watch all they want. Your search will be shorter.
Al Smith is co-author of the Amazon Top Rated book, HIRED! Paths to Employment in the Social Media Era, is a Keynote Speaker, Career Coach and Resume Writer.
© 2015 Distributed by Troy Media
