When it comes to Facebook, most career advice sites are unanimous: The best practice, they say, is to avoid using the social network at all, or at the very least to keep your profile private. It is not difficult to understand how this conventional wisdom came to be. After all, we have all heard the horror stories of individuals who post drunk, slovenly photos of themselves to Facebook, only to realize that — shockingly! — this does not endear them to recruiters or hiring managers. The long and short of it is that unwise social media use can cost you your career prospects, which is why many career advisors say it is better to steer clear, or else to make sure potential employers do not have access to your private Facebook account.

This advice is not necessarily wrong, but it does offer a narrow view of online reputation, and a diminished understanding of just how powerful it can be. It may be true that a bad online reputation can hurt your career prospects, and that unwise social networking can prove disastrous. The inverse is also true, however. A positive online image can enhance your career prospects, and sound social media use can help to cast yourself as a more appealing figure among recruiters.

The bottom line: Recruiters and hiring managers are often inundated with resumes and applications, and as such they turn to social networks to help them weed out “red flag” candidates. By keeping your profile private, you can neutralize the threat of those red flags (the slovenly photos, and so on). By keeping it public and using it to enhance your appeal among recruiters, however, you can cast yourself as a truly standout choice for the job! [Read more...]

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