BY :- CyberTech News
By now, we hope that it’s no longer a news flash that recruiters and
employers are checking out your Facebook profile, and that often, hiring
decisions are made based on what they find. It’s been proven
that a whopping 91% of employers are screening job applicants on social
networking sites, and 76% of them prefer to use Facebook. Obviously,
that means you’ve got to make your Facebook profile employer-ready, but
it’s a process that’s about so much more than simply removing
embarrassing photos. Consider this your to-do list for cleaning up
Facebook before you graduate and start your job search.
Review privacy settings:
Without the right privacy settings, anyone can see anything they
want to on your Facebook profile. That includes your likes, friends
list, photos, and information you’ve shared about yourself, like your
education and employment. We recommend shutting everything out but your
education and employment, keeping the rest of your life locked behind a
“Friends Only” wall, and consider the level you want to choose for new
posts on a per-post basis.
Show off posts that are helpful to employers:
You can choose to hide all of your posts, but there are some that
might be useful for employers to see. Simply select these as being
available to “Everyone.”
Update your professional history:
You may be more on top of updating your resume than your Facebook,
but if employers see that they don’t match up, they might think you’re
lying. Make sure that your degrees, jobs, and internships follow the
same history on your resume and social media.
Take a hard look at your info page:
Be sure that your interests, quotes, and relationship status show
off the best you. Drug references, bad language, and political quotes
can be a major turnoff for employers.
Go through your photos with a fine-toothed comb:
Drunk college photos and pics from the beach are pretty obviously
inappropriate, and should definitely be untagged and/or removed, but
don’t stop there. Keep an eye out for seemingly innocent photos, like
mixer parties that involve alcohol or images that might reveal your
political persuasion.
Set up profile review:
Using this feature, you can make sure that everything going on your
wall: posts, videos, and photos are personally approved by you. That
means friends can’t take embarrassing photos of you at a party, tag you,
and leave them to haunt you on your Facebook timeline.
Hide protected information:
Employers can’t discriminate based on your age, race, gender, sexual
orientation, marital status, or pregnancy, to name a few. But for many
Facebook users, this information is out in the open. You may be
comfortable sharing it, but do keep in mind that employers can see this
information to discriminate against you without ever even having you
come in for an interview.
Go through your wall:
With the new Timeline feature, this can get pretty tedious. Even
posts and photos from your early days on Facebook can come back to haunt
you. But doing a review of everything that can be seen is essential.
Simply go through your entire Timeline, removing or hiding any posts and
photos that don’t reflect well on you professionally.
Review your activity log:
It’s pretty straightforward to go through posts and photos on your
Facebook timeline, but what about comments, likes and posts that you’ve
shared elsewhere? Check out your activity log to make sure all of your
activities on Facebook are employer safe.
Cut out emoticons:
Employers aren’t impressed by emoticons as a method of expression:
12% of employers say they wouldn’t hire someone who uses them. Be sure
to hide or remove any posts that include emoticons, and stop using them
for future posts.
Watch your language:
Worse than emoticons are f-bombs, which employers generally frown
upon. Delete status updates with foul language and remember to keep
things professional.
Don’t forget spellcheck:
Along with cussing, poor spelling is also a terrible reflection on
your language that can be a major turn-off for employers. Show off your
professionalism with proper spelling and grammar.
Stay positive:
Although drinking, drugs, sexual content, and political discussions
are the major red flags on any profile, general negativity can hurt you
too. Employers look for job candidates with a positive attitude, so be
careful about posting negative or snarky updates on a regular basis.
Keep your rants offline:
In a similar vein, ranting about nearly anything is a major turnoff
for employers. We’re not saying you should keep every comment to
yourself, but be sure to consider how your long, drawn-out comment might
look to someone who is interesting in hiring you.
Claim your vanity URL:
Make sure that your name is popping up in searches by claiming the
vanity URL for your name. To do so, you’ll just need to choose your
“Facebook Username,” and we recommend that you use your real name if
it’s available.
Establish your brand with a profile photo:
Show off a unified image of yourself on social media, using the same
professional photo as your profile on Twitter, Facebook, and any other
site.
Create a professional cover photo, too:
Show off your professionalism and personality with a cool cover photo for Facebook Timeline.
Manage your social media reputation with a service:
Websites like Reppler.com
will monitor your social media image on Facebook and other sites to help
identify any potentially embarrassing issues and risks that might
compromise your image among employers.
Keep quiet about your terrible job:
It’s OK not to like your job (especially if you’re searching for a
new one), but don’t whine about it on Facebook. You might scare off
potential employers with your negative attitude. Hide or remove negative
employment-related posts, and keep if to yourself moving forward.
Highlight what’s important:
On your Facebook timeline, you can identify some of the most
important posts that you’d really like to show off. All you have to do
is click the star in the top right corner and choose Highlight. Then,
your post will enjoy full-width status on your page to gather more
attention.
Stay on top of deleting and untagging:
Anything on your wall, whether you posted it or not, is a reflection
on you. So the wild political rant that got shared on your wall or the
embarrassing photo you were tagged in reflect on you whether they’re
welcome or not. Be sure to check out what’s being posted to your wall,
and hide, delete, or untag anything that’s questionable.
Cull your friends list:
Every friend you have on Facebook is a liability. They can post
unsavory messages to your wall, check you in to places, and tag you in
photos. And if employers want to find out about the company you keep,
they may judge you by the friends you have on Facebook. Do you really
know everyone on your list? Unfriend anyone that’s not really a friend,
or whose profile has rude or embarrassing photos and posts.
Watch out for apps that open your profile up:
Apps from employers and job search sites often have terms and
conditions that give the app access to features on Facebook, like your
photos. So even if you’ve locked them behind a private wall, they can be
accessed through apps.
Check up on app permissions:
Be sure to go through your privacy settings to make sure that you’re
not allowing too much. You can find out what permissions each app has
and decide if you want to keep it by going to your application settings.
Delete your account:
There’s always the nuclear option: opting out of Facebook
altogether. It’s a surefire way to keep things private, but also keep in
mind that without a profile, employers may be missing out on valuable
information that can get you hired....
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