Advice for Social Media
What is your #1 piece of advice for job seekers as they navigate the challenges of social media and search engines?
Be careful about what they put on Facebook. Some employer and HR department formulate an opinion on a prospective hire looking at the students Facebook page.
Whenever setting up anything on social media, we tell our job seekers to think about what they are putting up. If they would be embarrassed by a picture or wording they used. They need to be mindful on what they are putting out.
First to make them aware that all their information can be seen no matter what their privacy setting are in social media. That what they post will most likely be seen by potential employer and that the images and language they use will influence what an employer thinks about them. To clean up their profiles, possibly even eliminate them and create a professional present. To always present themselves in a positive light and not to rant or bad mouth anyone on social media.
Go through all your accounts & clean up anything disparaging to your reputation. If you want to broadcast that on the Internet. Put it in an unlinked page under a nickname so employers & other colleagues would not have access to.
At this time, our students don't use much social media in terms of job seeking. Nevertheless, we advise them to be very conscious of their online presence as they are networking with other students, graduates, faculty and others; these individuals may have a hand in eventual employment opportunities and it is important to develop and maintain a consistently professional and ethical profile.
First, I would say they should clean up their image that is currently existing online, if they have one. There shouldn't be anything that you would not want an employer to see.
For new content my advice is that students should focus on creating a career-focused online presence that addresses their interest in their field and any contributions.
Make sure your social media doesn't contain words/images that you wouldn't want an employer to see.
I have found that, for the most part, it has been received well. The consensus for most students is they didn't know that employers looked at things like their personal Facebook. Or, they didn't realize how much was weight was put toward something as simple as using text-spelling when posting to Facebook.
As to questions, I get all types, but the most consistent is, if the student has things that are detrimental to their online reputation, how can they fix it, which I go over in the workshop.
Hi Vanessa,
It's great you have developed a workshop on this topic. It is critical for students to be educated on the impact their online presence has on their professional image/brand. Have you found that it is well-received? How do students react? What types of questions/feedback do you get?
Robert Starks Jr.
I have told them to be very aware of what they post and even what friends they have on their Facebook page or Twitter page.
Our department created a workshop to educate our students on what employers look for, what mistakes they may be making, and how to begin to correct inappropriate content.
Hi Chasminh,
Do you find your students to be receptive to a strategic professional use of social media for career marketing? Do they "get it," avoid social media, tend to not be professional with their use, etc.? What has been your experience?
Robert Starks Jr.
Be strategic. Like developing a resume, marketing strategy concepts need to be identified and implemented. I advise students to recognize how their online presence relates to the industry they are seeking to be employed in and the rating of their professionalism based on that presence.
Make yourself stand out with a way in....the best way is to know someone
Our students and graduates do not use a lot of social media for work applications. My number 1 piece of advice for right now is for the student to google himself of herself and see what shows up.
