Job Hunting Essentials: How to Clean Your Social Media Presence for Employers
Most employers are still Googling their applicants, but how can you control what they find? How can you clean up your social media act for job hunting?
It seems a little unfair that employers can give us a cheeky Google and find out all our darkest secrets. But there are ways to ensure that they only find the best version of you online.
Did you know that 70% of employers use social media to screen applicants? In a world where your digital presence can seem involuntary, how do you ensure that employers still invite you to an interview after scrolling through your Twitter?
How to Clean Your Social Media for the Job Hunt
1 – Things to be Careful About
Employers have said that they ditched candidates when they found:
- Provocative or inappropriate photographs, videos or information: 40 percent
- Drinking or drug use: 36 percent
- Discriminatory comments related to race, gender, religion, etc.: 31 percent
- Links to criminal behaviour: 30 percent
- Lies about qualifications: 27 percent
- Poor communication skills: 27 percent
- Job candidate bad-mouthed their previous company or fellow employee: 25 percent
- Unprofessional screen name: 22 percent
- Confidential information from previous employers shared: 20 percent
- Job candidate lied about an absence: 16 percent
- Candidate posted too frequently: 12 percent
2 – Unsure? Go Private
When I started searching for jobs I decided to begin cleaning up my public image by checking my privacy settings. Starting from Facebook I updated my settings to ensure that no strangers could prowl through my fresher’s photos and old statuses. There’s nothing worse than an employer seeing a selfie of you at your worst.
After locking down your Facebook, take to your other most used socials. Is your Twitter used to Tweet random obscenities at strangers or about your co-workers? It might be time to delete those Tweets – or the whole account – and start again. Do you have messy night out pics on your Instagram? Put them in the archive.
3 – Create a Professional Look
The only problem with approaching social media this way is that when employers do Google you, they’ll be met with nothing.
Having no digital presence can be worse than having a questionable one, so take some time to build your brand.
Create a public professional Twitter for engaging with your career idols and begin posting regularly. This will show employers that you’re serious and dedicated to your future role.
Next, spend some time on LinkedIn. Most employers see LinkedIn profiles as a second CV, so make sure that your job titles and dates are the same as those on your application. By taking the time to craft a professional LinkedIn profile, you show employers that you’re dedicated to maintaining your professional persona.
Another thing that’s great for Google is having a website. Whether it’s a blog or a portfolio, an official website is a great thing for employers to look at.
4 – Things to Work Towards
Employers have said they’ve employed candidates after finding these things online:
- Support of their professional qualifications for the job: 37 percent
- Evidence of creativity: 34 percent
- Candidate’s site conveyed a professional image: 33 percent
- Well-rounded profile showing a wide range of interests: 31 percent
- A good feel for the job candidate’s personality, could see a good fit within the company culture: 31 percent
- Great communications skills: 28 percent
- Awards and accolades: 26 percent
- Other people posted great references about the job candidate: 23 percent
- Job candidate had interacted with company’s social media accounts: 22 percent
- Compelling video or other content: 21 percent
- Large number of followers or subscribers: 18 percent
Want to create an air-tight, professional persona? Why not create a DigitalGrads account? Simply sign up, upload your CV and create your employer-friendly profile today.