The Ultimate Social Media Clean Up
Job hunting and interview season is already a stressful and overwhelming time, especially for recent grads or students looking for their first intern position. In today’s society, social media can be a positive way to boost employer interest, but it can also hurt chances of employment if content is not appropriate. Keeping a clean profile on all medias is important because anything posted on the Internet can, and potentially will, be found again. Be smart this interview season and clean up social media with these tips and tricks.
1. Limit Alcohol in Pictures
This is important regardless of legal age. The truth is most hiring managers don’t want to hire someone who appears to spend every weekend partying and being wild. It is not to say a champagne glass in hand at a wedding is going to lose you the job, but it is better to keep the amount of pictures with alcohol to a minimum, or none, if possible.
2. Don’t Curse
Unnecessary vulgar language can be a turnoff to followers, and especially to future bosses. It’s best to use appropriate language on Twitter, Instagram and even in blogs. If an unpleasant word seems like the only way to get the point across, then follow instinct and use it, but be careful of excessive usage. Also, remember that body language, such as a middle finger, can be viewed as the same way as dropping the F-bomb.
3. Keep Politics Out of It
If politics is a speciality, then by all means post away. But be careful. Think about every post made as potentially being seen by grandparents and extended family. Before tweeting or blowing up Facebook, remember to think through that everyone will see these thoughts and opinions and will make judgements based off of what is said. When looking for a job, especially in field where opinions should be unbiased in professional work, remember to not stray too far from the truth and facts when posting to the public.
4. Monitor Snapchat
This seems silly because Snapchat is theoretically only for people known by the user. It’s the most genius social media for millennials because, in theory, no one outside of the list of friends should see the snaps posted. Everyone knows this is not always the case. Strangers are accidentally added, friends show others and screenshots are taken and easily posted on other social platforms. Best bet is to stay safe and keep it as clean as possible.
5. Be Positive
No future employer wants to read tweets bashing a previous professor, class or boss because if there were previous issues, what if there are new complications that arise at this new job. If negative thoughts were publically posted before, hiring staff assumes this could happen again. It’s best to keep those bad days and negative commentary to oneself.
6. Go on Private
During interview season, many people opt to go on private settings, especially during the college age. Unless a strong following or social media presence is required for the position, it might be a safer and easier option to add a privacy protection setting and direct employers to more appropriate media, such as a LinkedIn account. Building a strong presence on career oriented media is a huge plus and makes job hunting easier. Anyone who doesn’t have a LinkedIn should highly consider creating an account today!
With these tips, it’s much easier to decide if your media profile is clean and appropriate for the next time a future recruiter Googles your name to see every social media post ever created. A social media does not usually make a career, but it can easily take you out of the chances for landing a dream position if it’s not clean. Best of luck job hunting!
Victoria Pishkula
@tori_pish
Tori is a senior at Ohio University, and is an associate for the Business Development for 1804 Communication as well as the head social media director for Her Campus Ohio U. She is a student at the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism and is studying strategic communication with a specialization in marketing and spanish. Tori has had an internship with La Forma and La Forma Campus in PR and marketing. She is always eager to talk more about her blogs and experience, and can be reached by email pishkulatori@gmail.com or LinkedIn.