How to Avoid Social Media Ruining Your Job Hunt

If used correctly, social media can be a very useful tool to aid your job search, but used wrongly, it can have disastrous effects! Research suggests that a massive 73% of recruiters look at the social media profiles of prospective hires. However, one third of job hunters still don’t think employers will have a look. Whilst it is obviously unlikely that a potential employer will base their entire hiring decision on an applicant’s Facebook profile, it is certainly important to be aware that what you post online is often no further than a Google search away. 

If you do have content on your social media pages which you think may not come across well, make sure you set your profile privacy settings to private. But remember, information like your profile photo is still visible so at least whilst your job hunting, try and choose an appropriate photo. Used well, social media can be a valuable tool for job-hunters, and is a great way to stand out from the crowd. 

To show your passion and knowledge of your field, join discussions on LinkedIn groups, start a blog and engage with industry professionals on Twitter. Building up an online network takes time, so add new contacts as you make them, and keep your information up-to-date as you change job titles and gain qualifications and experience. This is particularly relevant on LinkedIn where employers and recruiters will actively search for people with relevant experience. Here are a few things to avoid doing whilst looking for a job:

• Posting too often – if you are a tweeting all day whilst you’re supposed to be working, this doesn’t give a good impression to employers

• Being negative – we all have bad days at work, but try to avoid voicing this on the internet, employers don’t want to hire negative employees

• Poor spelling – This is particularly important on LinkedIn – try to come across as professionally as possible.