Protect Your Career From Your Past Shenanigans

Worried about your online past catching up with you??

Currently looking for a job or plan to start applying in the near future? Not getting anywhere and don’t know why? A good place to start would be your Facebook or Twitter. After that, time to start taking the LinkedIn profile you forgot that you set up seriously.

When you first apply for a job, the company is bound to read your CV or cover letter and make a decision within the first few moments whether you make the grade or not. If you’re fortunate to have made a good impression with these pages of writing, the next step for an employer will probably be to see if you’re a normal/suitable person, and where better to look than on social media.

A lot of people will have images of them getting drunk on a Friday or Saturday night with a pint in hand, a shot in the other, and some impressive dance moves on display. When you first signed up to Twitter or Facebook you may have sworn at friends or used some text speak to shorten the message because real words can be a hassle. Over time you may have calmed down or just realised that it’s not wise to have all of this on your public profiles.

Although you may think that this is a private space where you can put up photos of whatever you want and say whatever you want, that’s not quite true. When applying for jobs, you’ve got to portray the person that you want other people to see, someone companies will want to employ. That doesn’t mean not being yourself, just being a more sensible version of you. Here’s some advice for improving your social presence:

· Do a clean-up session

• Go through your social networks and just delete or hide anything that you think may not be deemed appropriate for a job applicant. You don’t have to remove everything about yourself, but overly aggressive things or exposing information/images should probably be hidden from view.

· Start being professional in some aspects of your social presence

• By connecting with people in the profession that you’re interested in, others will begin to notice you as a professional. You’ll be able to keep up to date with relevant news from that field and to learn different aspects for when your time comes. When it comes to possibly having an interview.

· Learn about the privacy settings

• Most social statuses come from a ‘heat of the moment’, spontaneous side of you that just wants to air something out. These aren’t necessarily all bad, but they may not be appropriate when a company browses your profile. On Facebook and Twitter, there are ways to hide most of what people see if they aren’t connected to you. This way, you can keep your sense of identity without panicking about what you said about last night when you were a little worse for wear.

· Invest in your LinkedIn

• If you don’t have a LinkedIn, make one. Once you have, keep it up to date. This is effectively an online CV that people can see whenever they want. Up to date info will keep your profile on view to potential employers and interested parties. It can also help you to connect more thoroughly with the people you want to.

Remember that you could become a valuable asset to this company, and they’ll probably want to find out as much about you as they can before taking the plunge and offering you a job. So even if you do have private profiles, there are ways of getting around these boundaries, so beware.

Dan Barr

I'm a Social Media Executive (Global Community Manager). Previous work includes writing for Social Media Frontiers and working for a major DIY retail company as part of their social media strategy team I have an MA in Sports Journalism and especially love the combination of social media and sport.

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