Using Social Media DOESN’T Damage Your Job Prospects

There’s been much talk about the impact of your social media presence on your job prospects. The thinking seems to be that a prospective employer searches your name on Google and discovers your Twitter feed or Facebook profile and is alarmed and disgusted by what you get up to at the weekends, your political views or your drunken photos.

Sure, if you’re posting about how great that skunk was that you smoked on Friday night or you’re tweeting homophobic or racist views then it’s going to get you into bother in all sorts of ways as well as ensuring you don’t get that job interview.

But the alternative of total radio silence or private profiles can also be damaging.

We’re currently recruiting for a Digital Marketing Manager (yes, it’s an old post – we’ve had some delays). Imagine I’m looking at two CVs of two individuls that are equally qualified for the role.

One name returns no hits on Google. But the other reveals a Twitter feed. Firstly, just the fact that you’re on Twitter shows you have a real interest in the internet and being involved with technology in your personal life as well as your professional life. Your tweets give me an insight into your interests and your personality. You’re now a real person as opposed to two sheets of paper and the prolific phrase “I work equally well unsupervised or as a part of a team”.

If I have only one interview slot left, guess who’s getting it?

So please, don’t be afraid to tweet/poke/post!

John Donnelly

“you have a real interest in the internet and being involved with technology in your personal life as well as your professional life.”

Conversely, that describes me to a T and yet, I’ve never even been to the Twitter website…

John
Hazel Edmunds

That title is a dogmatic statement – it DOESN’T harm your job prospects. I agree that evidence of online interaction, whether on Twitter or any other social media, doesn’t harm someone’s job prospects with KashFlow Accounting Software, but for many employers it COULD. Sure, I know that youthful indiscretions should not influence an employer – but in a time of job shortage they probably will. My advice, for what it’s worth, is to keep the language cool and the pictures discrete.
http://www.mattchedit.com/Blog.aspx Matt Chatterley

@Hazel – it’s no more dogmatic than the opposing argument, often touted in the media – that “Social media IS harmful to..”, etc.

Of course, it could. If the internet is plastered with nothing more than pictures of your drunken antics and indiscrections, I could imagine that being quite damaging (mind you, as we approach a point where there is probably one p*ssed-up photo of most of us out there, less so?)

It’s all dependant on context, although the practice of googling new employees is widespread (and has been for a long time, I would say). We certainly search for information about anyone we will be doing business with (clients included), too.

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