Things on Social Media You Should Avoid when Looking for a Job

If we had to name the most popular dilemma of the modern society it would definitely be ‘to share or not’. While you may want to keep your friends updated on the fun you had during summer vacation, sipping cocktails by the pool, think how your future employer may react.

The best advice here is to pay attention to your privacy settings and make your personal photos visible only to your friends. This will help you to avoid lots of embarrassing moments, as nowadays almost every hiring manager checks up on the candidate on social media. If you are looking for a new job, below is a list of the most common and dangerous mistakes you should avoid.

1. Turning off all of your accounts

You may think that closing or even deleting your accounts will be useful for finding a job. On contrary, it may limit your options and you will miss lots of opportunities. Instead, follow pages of the companies you are interested in, join LinkedIn groups of the industry to get familiar with all of its representatives.

Networking is a modern way of making useful contacts, so never neglect such an opportunity.

2. Looking like an inexperienced or bad candidate

According to the recent statistics, more than 60% of hiring managers and employers are looking for candidates on social media and all of them will hardly hire a person, who doesn’t have any accounts.

That is why you need to be able to present yourself in the best possible light. Even if your account is mainly for friends, you shouldn’t forget that most of the platforms remain public. Try to show that you are a real professional. Pay attention to your style, thoughtful comments and the things you repost.

3. Devoting little or no time to proofreading

Even if you are an excellent worker with many years of experience, you risk of being left behind if your resume or page is filled with typos and errors. You will be amazed how often people make mistakes in their LinkedIn or Facebook accounts simply because they don’t find it important to proofread.

Don’t skip this step and you will see that hiring managers are ready to make you an interesting offer.

4. Being inconsistent

Giving fake information on your qualification is always a bad idea, especially now, when hiring managers are able to surf the web and find almost any information they need. For example, if you say that you have five years of experience working in a bank, you shouldn’t post a photo in a waiter uniform, taken last Thanksgiving. Always stay honest and make all of your statements true and updated.

5. Split personality

It is normal to be a different person in various social media accounts. For example, you can be a tough programmer on LinkedIn but post only kittens on Instagram. However, you still need to make all of the accounts interlink not to seem a completely different personality.

In addition, you should devote enough time to choosing an appropriate name for your pages. Remember, the days when you could call yourself a ‘rainbowunicorn86’ have long gone!

6. Complains on your current position

If you think that your boss had no right to treat you in a certain way, telling about it on social media is not the best option. Remember that posting about the job and certain situations is always a bad idea, as you may seem uncommitted and potential employers will think twice before inviting you for an interview.

7. Bad communication

Apart from typos and misprints, there is such a term as bad writing. This means that your language lacks clarity, is a mixture of styles and is very heavy. Make sure your words are appropriate for different social media pages: relaxed ones for Facebook, casual -for Instagram and professional for LinkedIn.

8. Negativity

We all have good and bad days but it doesn’t mean that you need to make complaining posts, suicidal comments and offensive pictures. Remember, most of the companies have policy against gender, sexual, racial and religious discrimination. So if you break that rule, you won’t even get through the first stage of being hired.

9. Not being who you really are

Social media accounts are all about expressing yourself even if you are willing to get a new job. This means that you don’t need to delete your thoughts and personal pictures of yourself to make people like you.

Potential workers are equally interested whether you are a fun and friendly person, and not just a hard worker. Make sure they get a broad and clear picture of who you are even if you are not sure whether such content is irrelevant.

Give your account a side glance and decide whether you would hire such a person if you were looking for a potential employee. Good luck!