As a job seeker, you must understand that we live in a digital age and employers/recruiters will leave no stone unturned when it comes to screening candidates and learning a little more about them when considering them for a role. This means that if you have social media profiles that are accessible to the public, or there is information about you published on the internet, they will find this and it could directly impact your chances of landing the role.
Your social media presence can be a blessing or a curse when it comes to your job hunt. Use it wisely for building a professional brand and it can work in your favour by helping you to stand out from competition and building credibility in the industry; however if you don’t censor what you post online, it could put employers off.
We asked the Undercover Recruiter community what they think the biggest mistakes a job seeker can make on social media are and here’s what you had to say:
Career Coach
“1- Lack of #SocialMediaAwareness.
2- Having a false sense of security around content that is public vs. private.
3- Not taking FULL advantage of their personal brand by truly utilising social media to achieve results.”
Quality Assurance Manager at Prime Projects International
“The worst one is having a personal opinion on anything in the news is bad for a job seeker. Rectify this by not having a opinion on anything and you please everyone!”
Africa Regional Manager at Olympia Electronics
“Not understanding that social media is their brand, and that includes all the mistakes.”
Jose (@Josewats) thinks it is better to not have social media, rather than have an empty one:
@UndercoverRec Nothing. Your profile is your digital footprint and brand. It is better to NOT have #SoMe profile than to have a silent one.
— Jose Watson (@Josewats) February 4, 2016
RELATED: 4 Social Media Strategies for Proactive Job Seekers
Job seekers should definitely not moan about their current employers, says AB (@Esoteric_ABHI):
@UndercoverRec Cribbing about the existing employer on social platforms #UROpinion
— AB Chatterjee (@Esoteric_ABHI) February 4, 2016
…and Ruby (@rubyl0ve) agrees with AB:
@UndercoverRec Bad mouthing previous employers or moaning about work all the time is a no-no for me! #UROpinion
— Ruby (@rubyl0ve) February 3, 2016
Senior Account Executive at Link Humans
“Bad mouthing employers/colleagues, sharing offensive views, too many pictures of partying etc! (Save these for profiles with secure security settings, not ones that can be viewed by the public!)”
