Being Professional, Your Social Media, & Your Past

You have heard the horror stories of friends friends not being able to land a important position, or any good job because they had a wonderful social media history... 

No, I am wrong and you are smarter than that to believe a statement as absurd as that. But lets take a moment to reflect on how active you are on social media. When you wake up and made a cup of coffee, what do you do...? Check Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Email, Text messages, and every other little notification you received throughout the night while you were dreaming about sheep or fluffy clouds. This is all good to a point. Social media is a great medium to share quickly and casually the important events of life with anyone you care to share life with. But how does social media have anything to do with your professional career?

Did you know that most companies will check at least one social media one of your social media accounts during the hiring process to confirm that nice, pretty little resume you gave them with your first handshake? Probably not! In fact, in a recent article by Forbes magazine on how social media can help you land a dream job, 37% of employers use social media as a way to filter out bad applicants. This means that 1/3 of the companies you apply to will most likely be looking at your Twitter history and not really the Honors section of your resume. What is even more shocking is that Forbes found that 1/3 of employers that use social media as a screen said that they have found content that prevented them from hiring a person. 

So what is the take away from this? 

First, be smart about how you use your social media presence on a daily basis. That means that if you would not want your grandparents to see you post, then it may not be the best idea. 

Secondly, try to separate your friend group from your professional network on social media. Meaning that it is a good idea to keep Facebook and Instagram for your friends and family while LinkedIn should be kept for finding that perfect job opening. 

What about cyber-bullying and the professional world?

For the most part, I would never have thought that cyber-bullying would ever take place in the professional realm. I mean, you are supposed to be professional! 

In a article by the Society for Human Resource Management stated that American business absorb the cost of $300 billion dollars annually to mitigate and medicate workplace bullying of their employees. In many instances, cyber-bullying is carried out through emails, company chat rooms, or text messages between employees. In rare events, cyber-bullying has led to many suicides in the workplace as employees have been abused and devalued as individuals. 

This all goes to say one thing: Be Considerate 

Before you post, think, breathe, and think about how a viewer or your receiver of the message will feel or interpret your words. 

Happy Posting! 


Works Consulted

Smith, Jacquelyn. "How Can Social Media Help (or Hurt) in Your Job Search." Forbes. Forbes Magazine, n.d. Web. 14 Nov. 2016. 

"What HR Can Do About Cyberbullying in the Workplace." SHRM. N.p., 13 May 2016. Web. 14 Nov. 2016.