Social media is fun, right? It provides us with a place to share our happiest, silliest, and sometimes personal moments with our family, friends, neighbors, and even potential employers. We’ve all heard the stories of people who post something inappropriate on Twitter and end up sitting in front of HR. As much as we’d like to think that what we do off the clock shouldn’t affect our professional life, it very much does, especially when searching for a new job. There’s plenty of mistakes that can lead to a company skipping over your resume, here are a few!
Airing grievances about past jobs
It's normal to have a few complaints about your old jobs. Perhaps you felt mistreated, underpaid, or you just simply hated your boss and coworkers. Although all your feelings are valid, posting them on social media can cause a potential employer to question whether you’d be a good fit. This is because they don’t want you to do the same to them, it can potentially make them look bad and we all know that is the last thing a company wants. So, if you have any old tweets complaining about how much you hated your last manager, you may want to consider using the delete button.
Making distasteful jokes
Many people have a darker sense of humor, but a joke should never come at the expense of sensitive topics or a marginalized community. We’ve seen it time and time again that an employee for a company was fired for old racist or sexist jokes, don’t let that be you! Instead, take the time to educate yourself on certain topics before making an insensitive joke or comment.
Sharing confidential information
Now let’s say you secured a client, or you want to share a glimpse of a new project, whatever it is, remember that all companies have a social media policy, so be sure to follow it. The best way to judge whether you should post something or not is by simply asking yourself: “Should I post this?” and if you feel a bit uncertain, you’re better off keeping it to yourself.
Posting too often
If an employer is interested in you and they decide to check your socials and see that you tend to post all day, it may lead them to question your productivity. Yes, it may not be fair but it’s all about optics. Companies don’t want employees who spend their day tweeting away, they may think you lack self-control and might even post on the job.
Posting personal information
Some people like to utilize social media as a digital diary, which is great, but there is such thing as oversharing. If you post extremely personal content on your social media, an employer may see that as distasteful or inappropriate. When job searching, be sure to refrain from posting personal content. Companies don’t want your co-workers and certainly clients seeing explicit content about your life.
Unprofessional Language
It's important to paint yourself in a polite & professional manner in every way you can, constantly using explicit language online can stray potential employers away. Companies only want to hire the best candidates and they take everything into consideration, including your choice of words on an Instagram post.
Strong political opinions
We all have political opinions, but ideally, companies would prefer that their employees and potential employees avoid expressing strong political views, especially if it includes making rude or insensitive comments towards others on social media. Having employees who post harsh views can be jarring to clients and business partners so be sure to clean your social media of strong political posts, just in case.
Conclusion
Social media is a great way to connect with all your loved ones but remember when you’re job hunting, a company may decide to take a peek at your accounts. Keep your posts and tweets clean to avoid missing out on a great opportunity. And remember, if you must think twice about posting something, it may not be the best idea!
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