Whether you find social media a fantastic tool for expressing your individuality and sharing your life with friends, family, and the world, or it’s invaluable for showcasing your creativity and marketing, it’s important to remember that employers are more and more vetting potential candidates via their tweets, Instagram posts, and Facebook. Pre-employment screening services check more than employment history and DBS checks.
It might just be a bleary eyed photo from a friend’s wedding, pint in hand, and looking a little dishevelled, and it’s a hilarious memory from the night. But, as they say, first impressions count, and if that is the first photograph a potential employer finds of you, then that first impression is pretty poor.
Of course, there are few of us who haven’t posted a fun photo from a great night out, that’s the part of social media that makes it so entertaining. But context can count for a lot, and if it is your profile photo, it will not look so funny to your new boss.
At the other end of the scale are the reported cases of people losing their jobs due to social media posts full of profanity, nudity, or controversial opinions. There’s a whole minefield of potential mistakes to make that will ensure you do not get the job you really want.
So what are the points that ring bells for hiring managers? What gets you booted from a shortlist, and more importantly, what changes to your social media make you an attractive candidate?
It’s maybe tempting to turn off all your social media, or go very private. But if HR can’t find any social media presence if can appear you have something to hide, or worse, nothing to show, which will instantly put you back to the bottom of the pile.
Instead, draw a line between personal and professional social media, have a curated and well-managed LinkedIn or Twitter, but keep Facebook and Instagram personal and private.
Employers are interested in how you use social media, and how you build and interact with followers, and your creativity. If you have bought fake followers to boost your numbers, this can be easily noticed, and has no other benefit than boosting your own vanity. Connecting with influencers and industry leaders instead of vast numbers will be much more beneficial.
Use your social media to use these connections, as well as following relevant publications and companies. Being seen to interact with online groups and discussions, and managing the type of content you share and comment on show what contributions you would bring to an employer.
Simply signing up to a social media service and never using it is also a turn off for employers. An empty or a poorly presented LinkedIn page can have a negative effect on your chances. Social media can be a chance to showcase your talents, and ability to network. Candidates that regularly post funny, insightful, interesting and creative content are much more likely to catch someones eye.
It’s a good idea to clean up your social media if you are going to be looking for work. Remove any negative comments about previous employers or colleagues, never, ever post any confidential information. Remove, or limit the visibility of photos that could be misconstrued. Ask friends if they wouldn’t mind un-tagging or removing unflattering photos.
Most jobs these days require some knowledge of digital skills, so by showing good use of social media, having a website, or writing a blog that’s relevant to the industry will boost your chances and employers may be impressed by your initiative.
Employers do not have absolute free reign to pour over your social media history, and they have to comply with GDPR legislation to ensure they are not breaking privacy laws. It does require that employers only view the social media that’s relevant to the position applied for, and they should notify candidates before conducting any searches.
It’s important that candidates are aware of exactly what handing consent to access social media entails, what information they are giving, and how that information will be used.
Should everything go well, and you receive that job offer you were hoping for, keep it off social media. It is wise to avoid announcing it on Facebook until it’s been cleared with your employer-to-be.
Using a reputable pre-employment screening company such as Agenda Screening will ensure that any social media background checking is carried out in line with the guidelines set out in GDPR, while being comprehensive enough to root out any adverse social media content which might prove that a candidate would be unsuitable for the position.
