Social media and recruitment: This is an interesting topic to get into with my clients.
Because we now live in a digital age where we have to accept the fact that social media, like LinkedIn, can either make or break your chances of finding a job or can even affect your entire career in the grander scheme of things.
If you’re actively job searching, having a strong online brand that helps promote your skills, experience and your personality positively and professionally which will surely impress employers.
On the other hand, posting racial slurs, far-right ideologies, controversial pictures and videos or merely sharing rude comments online doesn’t put you on a pedestal, does it?
Although I will not get into this today, I do recognize that whether social media should be used in recruitment at all is a controversial argument. Instead, I’d rather tackle the subject matter by sharing a bit of general advice to our job seekers.
Before you post something on social media, please think carefully about how it may affect your employability. You may regret your decision later on because once something is on the internet, like it or not, it stays on the internet, or is at least retrievable from somewhere.
Sadly, I saw a couple of innocent post in LinkedIn recently that went viral because someone in the comment section shares a rude comment that then sparks a global-wide online debate.
Before you start giving me the “but it’s their freedom of speech” argument, yes, I am all in favor of freedom of speech but that’s not the point here. Being rude to someone while tagging yourself as “Open for Opportunities” doesn’t really showcase you in a good way, does it?
Unwittingly you are closing yourself off for future opportunities because of these actions. The frequency with which we see this happening as job search coaches, makes me wonder whether job seekers are aware that, due to how LinkedIn algorithms work, your comments can easily be seen by others online (yes, most likely by your future employers as well).
I don’t know about you, but I know for a fact that job searching is already difficult, and I don’t want to create another layer of challenges for myself to solve. Just imagine if the topic of this rude post or comment came up during a job interview, what would you say?
You might think playing the “social media is personal and should not be connected with my work” card is a good idea, but do you want to get into this debate? In an interview no less? You’re not likely to come out painted in a positive light.
LinkedIn is also a business and employment-oriented social media platform, which meant for us to show great business etiquette and manners when we speak to others. So rather than arguing about the legalities and boundaries of personal vs. private life online, I would rather save myself the trouble and just be mindful of what I post. There is absolutely no place for rude comments, racial slurs or negativity in your social media, especially if you are job searching.
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