Five Social Media Mistakes That Will Hurt Your Job Search

ear Liz,

I’ve been “cleaning up” my social media presence lately because I’m about to start a job search. What do I need to do to my social media pages to make sure I’m job-search-ready?

Thanks,

Leona

Dear Leona,

Good thinking! I’m sure you know that the majority of employers will check out a candidate’s social media presence before making a job offer.

Here are five social media mistakes that could really slow down your job search:

• Risque or racy content on your social media pages
• Offensive sentiments or images on your profile and/or extreme political or religious views
• Photos or discussion about illegal activities (even if in a joking manner)
• Images and updates that reference a focus on partying and getting crazy
• Angry or argumentative comments and threads

Can you be yourself on social media while you’re job-hunting? For sure you can, as long as you are aware of your social media presence and use appropriate restraint.

Do not show us your new tattoo on a part of your body where most of us would otherwise never see it — not right now!

Do not get nostalgic and write about the partying you did in college — or last weekend.

Refrain from posting photos of yourself in an impaired state, as amusing as those photos might be.

Make sure your profile photos on every social media site you use are professional and friendly. Pay special attention to your LinkedIn profile, which is your professional billboard.

Watch your comments on all social media platforms, because people can easily get caught up in flame wars and angry conversations that don’t matter to you but might matter very much to a person who’s considering hiring you.

A person who visits your LinkedIn profile can see which posts you comment on, and read your comments if they want to. Make sure your comments on LinkedIn are polite and professional!

No matter how strongly you feel about an issue, keep in mind that your comments are public and represent you to the world.

If you like to argue about politics with your friends, do it offline for a while.

You might even decide to turn your attention away from social media while you focus on your job search.

You might find that you gain a lot of extra time that way!

All the best,

[“Source-forbes”]