Is Your Social Media Profile Preventing You From Getting A Job?

[george]

Job seekers warned: What goes online stays online

WHAT goes online stays online - and could put you out of the running for a job.

Employers and recruitment companies are increasingly scrutinising candidates' social networking profiles to vet job applications.

"Sites such as Facebook are being used increasingly by companies to screen candidates," said Marcus Sandmann, Michael Page's head of marketing for Asia Pacific.

Job-hunters are being told to clean up their social networking profiles or risk being overlooked for jobs by prospective employers - because companies are watching.

"Social media is all about an online public forum," Sandmann said. "What you put online stays online, and it opens you up to extra scrutiny. People looking for roles need to be mindful of that."

Full story: http://www.news.com.au/business/business-smarts/job-seekers-warned-what-goes-online-stays-online/

[corkman]

In my opinion, it efies belief the stuff tat people put up on facebook, not just about themselves but also about their friends.

I have a facebook account, not for my own use (I find it intensely boring) but so that if anyone puts up a picture of me and "tags" it with my name, then I will get a notification of it and can action accordingly .......... I mean it's harmless when my God Son puts up pictures of me in a suit and tie at his borthers wedding ........ but if some <deleted> were to put up any kind of compromising picture...... well at least I know.

It's not just your own job though, I mean through the course of your current job, if you make a new business contact, there's good chances that he is going to get his secretary to google you...... I mean I do it, not frequently, but I do it sometimes just to get a feel for someones character or professional activities...... god only knows what might come up though.

[phuket Mike]

Personal profiles on Facebook are not indexed by Google, all that will come up in Google is your Facebook name if it is sufficiently unique, if you have your privacy settings in place only friends can see what you post, and you can further restrict that by security or the use of groups.

Having said that it is very easy for someone to get access to what you post, simply by creating a personal profile and sending you a friend request, if you accept which most active FB users do, they can then see what you have posted. There are people out there that specialise in this type of checking, working for large companies, checking prospective employee and existing staff.

Of course your social networking activity can also have a positive effective, if you behave professionally and actively help people you may find yourself head hunted by a company.

I think it should be common sense, not to publish derogatory information about yourself or your friends, Facebook and other social networking site can be very useful if used correctly, in fact I would go as far as to say Facebook with 500 million users is a must have for anyone who wishes to promote their business.