Without a central moderation within the internet most people carry on as they wish using the internet to their discretion. But what happens when you need to find a job? Can your Facebook and Twitter friends count as references? Not so much. Maintaining a professional and clean look on the internet can be a daunting task, especially when you get yourself wrapped up in the Myspace, Facebook, and Twitter phenomenon.
I say these things because people are trained to go out and find potential candidates to fill a job position. Although most people know of being "googled" after they are hired, quite a few businesses do take a look to find everything they can about you, before they even meet you. I've seen a case where a company paid to find out information about a potential employee, which then linked them to pretty much every social media website they belonged to.
So in essence, it is extremely important to keep up a professional image on the internet. As one source mentioned, try to manage two Facebook accounts. One for friends and family, and the other for strictly business. Another key step would be to have a separate e-mail address that you only give out to recruiters and important networking contacts. Lastly, actively post content to your business profiles. When a recruiter goes to find information on you, be that again via Facebook or even Twitter, give them good reason to hire you. Post a recent achievement such as you getting an A on a paper or mid-term exam. Or you could even post how you learned a new skill, just as long as it's positive and reflects you.
http://www.nj.com/business/index.ssf/2010/03/social_networking_has_its_perk.html
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/CompaniesA-Z/Corporate_Trends/6degrees_of_recruitment/articleshow/msid-1812496,curpg-1.cms
I'm not sure I understand why you would go about making more than one facebook profile. Aren't recruiters more likely to look you up on linkedin if they want to see you in a professional light?
ReplyDeleteI agree that if you want employers to have a good impression of you, one must keep a good clean image on all the social networking sites. Although creating two Facebook accounts for that purpose is interesting. If an employer needs to find you, wouldn't they find both accounts?
ReplyDeleteYou got it nailed down I think all these ideas are something everyone should adopt. Even though I hate facebook this would actually make life easier on facebook and not give you so many hassles. The only problem I can see and this is something I think we all face is that their is too many things to check and look out for. How many different emails are you going to look through and how many different accounts on facebook are you going to check they all take time when their purposes are for ease.
ReplyDeleteYou guys definitely have a point in regards to separate facebook accounts. Being so that both would be under your name, it would be wise probably to implement privacy settings so only certain people can find you, even if they did try to look you up by your name. I know it may seem a bit outlandish, but that's the price of keeping up a good image.
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