Would Your Tweets, Facebook or Forum Posts Stop You Getting A Job?

Facebook is the most popular social media site on the Internet; it has over 1 billion users. It is a place to stay connected with friends, family and brands. Users can also play games, chat and share pretty much anything they want, with who ever they want. However, the trouble with Facebook is that it is easily accessible, so nearly anyone can look at your activity if they so desired, therefore it is important to check your privacy settings in order to control who can see what.

People also tend to be more open than they would be in public or face-to-face interaction, and often forget to think before hitting the ‘comment’ button. You really do need to be careful about what you post on Facebook or you may find yourself in hot water.

While reading this perhaps you are thinking, why would Facebook or any of my tweets stop me from getting a job? How can using social media get me fired?  Well, Facebook or Twitter won’t, but your comments and pictures that you and your friends post on your page and the pages which you like may well do.

When an employer receives your CV, it is clear that they will also be checking you out on Facebook, Twitter and may other forums, and trying to get an overview of what you are like.

If there are pictures of you drunk every weekend, it’s going to be a concern for the employer, come Monday. Are you still going to be recovering from the weekend? How much will this impact on your work, and how much money will they lose because of it? Then when it hits Friday, are you going to be too busy on your phone or on Facebook arranging your weekend - again losing the company money and time?

Let’s use Facebook for example, it’s your page, you want to feel free to express yourself, post pictures up from the weekend, holidays and those well known selfies and chat with all your friends. But when you post your life on Facebook you’re not thinking about your current employer or a future one.

However, in reality some of our current or future employers look at our Facebook to see if our behaviour is appropriate for their company. If you are in work, are you using your Facebook profile to slag off your boss, your job or the company? If so, you can be sacked for this. 

Kimberley Swann, 16 from Essex, did not enjoy her Office Administration job at Ivell Marketing and Logistics and made sure to express these feelings to her friends.

On Facebook she posted: “First day at work. Omg (oh my God)!! So dull!!” and “All I do is shred, hole punch n scan paper!!” not knowing that her boss would be able to see these comments.

Three weeks after posting these comments she was fired for speaking negatively about her job.

So if you have a bad day in the work place, which is normal - we all have off days - share it with a friend via text or in a phone call - do not share it on Facebook!

How to use Social Media in your Job Search

The key for job seekers is to make sure you are presenting your best, most employable self on Facebook.

A Jobvite study from 2011 found that 84% of job seekers had profiles on Facebook, and 63% of them were actively searching for jobs.

Everyone knows of the opportunity to network via Facebook, and now we know that such networking can result in employment: A total of 18.4 million people, in fact, have credited Facebook as the source that led to their current job.

Facebook can be a great tool for networking and finding openings during your job search, since you share personal information on Facebook, it’s important to know about best practices and tools you can use to make sure your profile is suitable for potential employers.

Use and understand your privacy controls to limit who has access to the individual posts you create. Protect the privacy of your photos, videos and status updates by choosing to share your personal information with friends.

So if you are looking for work, think - Status Updates

The most obvious way to use Facebook for a job hunt is to update your status with your current situation and what you are looking for. Friends, family, old colleagues, long-time-no-speak acquaintances are all there to help you. People want to help others, it’s human nature.

You will be delighted at how much support and help you’ll get. Bear in mind that another human trait is forgetting, so you best keep updating your network and giving them the latest on your job hunt and thus staying in the forefront of their minds.
 
Good luck!