Airing your dirty laundry on social media? Don’t cry when employers see…

Most of us, if not all, use some form of social media. Whether it’s Twitter, Facebook or Instagram our photos and late night antics are there for all to see.

With 39% of employers admitting to using social media to screen applicants, and with grad app season well underway, it begs the question: how much is too much?

Photos

Let’s face it, our generation is the king of the narcissists, we take photos of everything. New outfit. Snap. Starbucks. Snap. Nandos for two. Snap.

These pictures are all harmless, right? Well, whilst that may be the case for the majority of them, the same can’t be said for all. Photos of us misbehaving, drunken and in an all-round compromising position create the wrong impression.

Put yourself in the view of the employer, you can’t be claiming to be a hardworking, focused individual when your profile picture is of you passed out in the middle of the street…it just doesn’t add up.

It just doesn’t add up

Grafting for retweets

Twitter seems to be the worst culprit when it comes to inappropriate comments. For some reason, the minute we’re sat behind a computer all sense of decorum and moral responsibility goes out the window.

The more controversial the statement the better, as long as that follower count is increasing and we’re cashing in on retweets it’s all a bit of fun, right? But what does that say about you?

50% of employers admitted to rejecting an applicant after seeing provocative/ inappropriate content online and a further 28% admitted to doing the same after witnessing discriminatory comments about race religion and gender.

You’re laughing now…

With social networking becoming ever more popular, it’s likely that these numbers are on the up. What does this mean for us? Well in the first instance it confirms what we’ve all been thinking… employers are snooping.

They’re looking at the whole candidate rather than that pristine “butter wouldn’t melt” image we portray in our applications and quite frankly, given the current job market, who can blame them?

If you’re foolish enough to publicise your business for all to see, you have to face the consequences.

Common sense

It’s not rocket science, it’s not Einstein’s theory of relativity, it all boils down to common sense.

If you wouldn’t want an employer to see it, don’t post it. Simple. Let’s forget about likes and retweets for a second and think of the greater, albeit scarier, picture.

We are all hoping to enter into the job market in a couple of years, we’re going to have to be responsible at some point in our lives, so why not make life a little easier for ourselves and start now?