Is your social media profile keeping you from landing a job?

Did you know that 93% of hiring managers will review a candidate’s social profile before making a hiring decision? And that about a third (34%) of employers who scan social media profiles said they have found content that has caused them not to hire the candidate? Don’t be one of these people!

As you are applying for jobs and internships don’t just make sure your cover letter is perfect and your resume looks nice – CLEAN UP YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA PROFILE! Avoid provocative or inappropriate photos, evidence of excessive drinking and/or drug use, bad mouthing previous employers, making discriminatory comments related to race, gender, or religion.

“Okay,” you say, “but I keep my nose—and my posts—clean, and I wouldn’t think of making any of the stupidest social media blunders. So what have I got to worry about?” Well, you might want to take another read of what you’ve written: 66% of hiring managers said they would hold poor spelling and grammar against candidates. This is especially true in the legal field where writing skills are so vital.

Employers do extensive research on these sites before they hire you. It’s a good rule of thumb to never post anything you wouldn’t want a boss or prospective employer to see, and always assume that, no matter how strict your privacy settings are, that your post will be seen. If you don’t want something to be seen, don’t post it on the Internet.

To clean up your profile start by removing any inappropriate content. This may require more than just deleting posts from your profile. The negative information may be hosted on other sites, perhaps within a blog post, comment, photo, or video. You may need to politely write to the site owner and request that they take the information down.

You also should start producing more career-relevant and positive content and publishing it on your social media profiles. This will hopefully rise to the top of search engine results, burying the older, more negative content you have on display

For more information and tips review the video in the link below or stop by the Career Services Office for advice. We are here to help!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4het5ocN-o