Why a clean social media is important when applying for jobs
Sign-up to our Newsletter
14/09/2021
Social Media is an ever-growing beast that has changed the social, research, media and work landscapes drastically in the last 10 years. The growth of Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Linkedin and other social media apps has created whole new platforms for people to express themselves and show their friends, and at times unknown people, more about their beliefs, thoughts and lifestyle.
Now whilst this can be positive in most aspects of life, there can be some areas of concern when it comes to the relationship between social media and your work life, especially when applying for jobs.
In my experience, there are two sorts of people who use social media. There are those who are very socially active, posting regularly to share their life and experiences. There are also those who are active on social media but do so in private. This may be through making sure that all of their posts and profiles are private or through not posting at all. There is absolutely nothing wrong with being either person and everyone has the right to use and absorb information through Social Media in the way they see fit. However, it is important to know that these choices, and more importantly what you choose to post, can have an impact on your job search for certain positions within certain organisations.
All you have to do is look at the events of the past week to understand the importance of this. The event with a certain influencer was a colossal mistake that has had an impact on her social status. Now she isn’t the first to have social media issues and she won’t be the last. However, you see how quickly brands and endorsements jump ship when there is something or someone connected to them that does not meet the mission statement, values or beliefs of an organisation.
The same goes for job applications.
Many organisations throughout the recruitment process will at some stage look on or visit the social media of a potential candidate. Why would they do that you ask? To ensure the candidate meets and represents the ethos and values of the organization.
Social media is such an influential part of the world and people take things at face value without any further investigation or fact-checking so organisations, especially those for high profile roles, will do their very best to ensure the potential candidate is the right fit.
In a way, this check is no different to a Police Check or a Working with Children’s Check being undertaken to ensure you meet the criteria.
So, in short. Keep your social media clean. No incriminating posts, photos or videos. There is nothing wrong with being yourself, expressing your beliefs and sharing your life, however, if you are applying for jobs, just think ‘how would this post look to a potential employer and am I presenting myself in the best possible light’
There are many hurdles you have to overcome to secure a new job. Ensuring that you don’t fall over at the social media hurdle is one more step towards your dream job.
