With great technology comes great responsibility. Sure, social media allows us to connect with people in ways we had previously never imagined, and allows us access to information as soon as it’s posted. And with more than 500, 000 Jamaicans on Facebook alone, it makes sense that recruiters would use social media to screen potential candidates before considering them for hire. Right?
Definitely, says a study conducted in the United States of America by social media monitoring service Reppler. According to the 300 companies surveyed, more than 90% of employers visited a potential candidate’s profile as part of the hiring process. Even more importantly, most of them (69%) rejected potential employees based on content posted, and a similar percentage claimed to hire employees based on an impressive web presence. This practice is so pervasive that, in a recent article published in the Gleaner online two US Senators are pushing for their Attorney General to investigate whether employers’ asking of candidates’ passwords to scrutinize their online activity constitutes a violation of privacy rights.
In any case, as Jamaican businesses are becoming more attuned to social media, it is in our best interest as professionals to ensure that we pay more attention to the way we represent ourselves online. This can not only help us to secure the job we’ve always wanted, but can also protect us against lawsuits and other unforeseen consequences of using social media inappropriately—as was seen most tragically in the suicide of the Rutgers student Tyler Clementi.
Tips to manage social media presence
- Monitor social media. Software like Reppler analyzes your presence on Twitter, Facebook and others and gives an ‘image score’ based on criteria like appropriateness content and tone of language, and assists in cleaning up your profile.
- Borrow marketing strategies. Pay attention to social media marketing techniques and etiquette used by the pros, as these may be useful to enhancing your web presence. Use correct grammar and punctuation, for example, and select a flattering, recent profile picture that projects an image of confidence.
- Think like an employer. Which would an employer prefer to hire—an employee with a page peppered in gossip and expletives, or an employee interested in issues pertaining to his field, who responds to comments with dignity and politeness? It pays to think before you post.
- Pay attention to what you ‘like’. Your interests give valuable insight into who you are—it makes sense, therefore, to pay attention to the music, books, magazines, and businesses to which you give your seal of approval on Facebook.
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