Social Media screening is becoming increasingly commonplace. Many job seekers have been caught out when HR professionals, looking to get a sense of the person behind the CV, come across evidence of risqué behaviour and inappropriate comments on their LinkedIn and Facebook profile pages. On the other end of the spectrum, if you post nothing at all, hiring managers may suspect that you’re a techie dinosaur or, worse, that you have something to hide.
So, if you’re looking for a new job (or would like to hold on to your existing one), be mindful of what you post. According to The Global Recruiter, there are seven social media crimes to be avoided at all costs.
1) Unprofessional photos of you slumped by the bar or being in some way improper are a big no-no.
2) Bad language – as above.
3) Complaints, gossip or otherwise disparaging remarks about past or current employers/colleagues should never see the light of day. Similarly, don’t whine about your friends, family, issues or events. No one wants to work with a moany morale-sapper.
4) Reference to illegal or shady activity such as taking drugs will haunt you forever. Don’t do it.
5) Controversial comments are likely to cause offence and promptly put an end to job opportunities.
6) Risqué comments and photo tags from other people can also damage your reputation. Change your settings so you have to approve tags or ask your friend to stop tagging you.
7) Posting a hastily-written message in a burst of emotion – positive or negative – is a bad idea. Always review your messages calmly – in terms of tone, content, grammar and spelling – before hitting send.
We hope that the above list was useful. Have we overlooked any points? Please get in touch to let us know. And if you’d appreciate some expert tips on how to make your LinkedIn profile shine – or on any other recruitment-related matter – please contact us at info@ablrecruitment.com or on 020 7092 3911. We are the UK’s number one recruitment agency and we would be delighted to hear from you!
