What Does Your Social Media Say About You?
What is the first thing you do if you want to find out about someone you don't know?
Chances are, you answered that question with ‘Google them’ or even ‘Facebook them’. Practically everyone has an account on one of the many social media networks out there, and search engines like Google can pull up vast amounts of information that people have shared online.
Everything you share on the internet should be treated as a permanent record of who you are as a person. Even if you delete pictures and posts they might have been screenshotted and shared by your friends, and could still be accessible using an internet archive search such as Wayback Machine. Many celebrities have paid hundreds of thousands of pounds to try to remove images from the internet to no avail.
A lot of employers will use the internet to find out about the kind of person they’re employing, and when you start working for a company many people will check out your Facebook profile to learn more about their new colleague.
Big companies use social media monitoring software to protect their reputation and can easily find posts which mention them; so if you’re going to talk about your employer online make sure that your privacy setting reflect the amount of information you want them to see!
Don’t let your social media profiles have a negative impact on your reputation and employability – follow our useful guidelines:
- Don’t share anything online that you would not be comfortable with everybody knowing
- Ensure your public photos are employer-friendly – they are often the first impression
- If you are unsure about a post, be cautious and don’t post it – or post it privately
- Be thoughtful and polite when commenting on a public page
- Don’t post confidential information about yourself or others
- Report anything you see that might result in someone causing harm to themselves or others
- Create a LinkedIn profile so that you can easily control your professional image.
Our ASPECT team is on hand for further guidance on social media and employability...
