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Saturday, July 19, 2014

What You Need to Know as a Professional on Facebook




"Surveys suggest that approximately 30% of employers are using Facebook to screen potential employees – even more than those who check LinkedIn, a strictly professional social networking site. Don't make these Facebook faux-pas – they might cost you a great opportunity." 


1. Inappropriate Pictures
It may go without saying, but prospective employers or clients don't want to see pictures of you chugging a bottle of wine or dressed up for a night at the bar. Beyond the pictures you wouldn't want your grandparents to see, seemingly innocent pictures of your personal life will likely not help to support the persona you want to present in your professional life.


2. Complaining About Your Current Job
You've no doubt done this at least once. It could be a full note about how much you hate your office, or how incompetent your boss is, or it could be as innocent as a status update about how your coworker always shows up late. While everyone complains about work sometimes, doing so in a public forum where it can be found by others is not the best career move. Though it may seem innocent, it's not the kind of impression that sits well with a potential boss.


3. Posting Conflicting Information to Your Resume
If you say on your resume that your degree is from Harvard, but your Facebook profile says you went to UCLA, you're likely to be immediately cut from the interview list. Even if the conflict doesn't leave you looking better on your resume, disparities will make you look at worst like a liar, and at best careless.

4. Statuses You Wouldn't Want Your Boss to See
Everyone should know to avoid statuses like "Tom plans to call in sick tomorrow so he can get drunk on a Wednesday. Who cares that my big work project isn't done?" But you should also be aware of less flamboyant statuses like "Sarah is watching the gold medal hockey game online at her desk". Statuses that imply you are unreliable, deceitful, and basically anything that doesn't make you look as professional as you'd like, can seriously undermine your chances at landing that new job." From 
Article by Erin Joyce at Investopedia.com
Learn More:Use Facebook To Attract Hiring Managers.

“How To Get Hired Faster on Linkedin": What Are You Waiting For?

36 comments:

  1. The best way to avoid embarrasment on Facebook? Don't have a Facebook account!

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  2. The article is a re-hash; but a good one. I forwarded the link to my friends to forwarded to their career-minded children.

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  3. I assist clients with their Online Professional Brand. I always suggest separating your Professional and Personal Brands. A good idea for your Professional Brand is a Fan Page centered around your career.

    Twitter: http://twitter.com/StrategicGen

    Free e-book:"Online Professional Branding" - http://www.strategicgeneration.com/ebooks

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  4. Keep security settings tight and don't accept friend requests from people you don't know. Simples really!

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  5. Keep security settings tight and don't accept friend requests from people you don't know. Simples really!

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  6. Separate your professional and personal. Very cut and dry and sounds like great advice on paper. I think it is also boring and if you control your FB page properly, you can present/market yourself to potential employers so that they get a glimpse of who you are or the best of who you are besides just work related - it is more interesting. It makes FB a much more bland experience for me overall but that is the way I do it.

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  7. Thankfully,although I have sum of the "no go" stuff on my page (comments about work and pics)I have my security settings up to date, so my potential employer wont have to see all that. But wouldnt it be nice to let them see? See that your a normal family person that likes to let your hair down but that knows when monday morning comes its all over until friday. I can dream I suppose! :)

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  8. This social networking tool that can be such an entre into the lives of friends and family must be carefullly monitored....

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  9. I guess, its bit harsh for employers to peep into personal life and make professional decision.

    Beyond my understanding.

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  10. Are the benefits of having a Facebook page worth it relative to the risk?

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  11. Real estate and finance stuff can be very confusing, especially things like triple net leases and 1031 exchange property stuff. Thanks for the article!

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  12. I keep my FB page pretty clean and professional, but how do I stop friends from tagging me in non-professional pics. My friends are aware I try to keep my page professional so the pics are never of anything defamatory, but I still dont want potential employers seeing an old pic of me and my fiends posing at a a high school basketball game.

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  13. @anonymous
    actually you could manage that tagging rules in privacy settings

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  14. 6 Career-Killing Facebook Mistakes - but I can see only 4. Am I missing something?

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  15. http://www.investopedia.com/slide-show/6-career-killing-facebook-mistakes

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  16. Use your real name of facecebook? People need to work out how to keep their work and private life separate.

    Facebook is a good example of social darwinism,

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  17. OH yes - bad pictures is the way to go if you want to get 'asked to leave'. I've read so many reports on teachers and other people being asked to leave their positions due to bad facebook decision. Silly facebook.

    Chicago SEO

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  18. I have had some problems along these lines in the past. I had to make a choice, given that there is too much you cannot control with Facebook. I need my career but I don't need Facebook.

    I closed my Facebook account, permanently. I understand (through private survey comments) that the majority of high-level professional job seekers do the same.

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  19. I don't get these kind of articles, as if there is no way to set Privacy/Security on one's FB page... unless I'm in the minority of not allowing my page open to those that are not my FB Friends.

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  20. I just don't understand people who use their real name on Facebook if they are worried about employers googling them. I understand that even if you keep your page private, some of your likes and friends will be visible to others. This is why I do not use my real name on anything other than Linkedin (which is very boring for that reason). This way, I am free to hit the "like" button for Fidel Castro and Willie Nelson's Tea Pot Party. I mean come on? Unless you are a very boring person or secure in a field that is very open minded (or have a a name like John Smith), don't use your real name and don't allow friends of friends to see anything.

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  21. Changing your settings to "Friends only" is easy! I went further and changed my settings so only around 30 very close and trusted people see my posts. Not that I would say anything particularly controversial on the internet anyway. Thats why I don't post on LinkedIn! It is FAR more public in my opinion

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  22. I've seen these before, but we all need a reminder! Not only do I care about my own, but I have friends who are teachers and others that would be offended. I do a combination of keeping everything private AND monitoring my wall & profile for inappropriate items. I have warned people about this and unfriended and hid posts.

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  23. A lot of job seeking advice is contradictory on social media. First the advice says you "have to have" a FB account. Then it says "watch what you post." But if you have a private page, what difference does it make? Do employers violate privacy laws somehow to see your content? And if you have a private page, what good is having it for a career-seeker? None at all. A lot of things like that just are disturbing. I can see the point about not posting controversial stuff, but the idea that an employer can choose not to hire you because you're a Republican or Democrat, for example, is just one symptom of a sick society.

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  24. The intelligent thing to do would be to NOT put anything on facebook and to keep your private life private!

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  25. I disagree -- a mother who doesn't post a cute picture of her kid on the first day of school doesn't seem genuine. Posting pictures of you and your buddies at the game isn't bad, if you all legitimately took a vacation day or it was a Sunday. It's just if three of you took sick days, or two of you took the next day off because you had hangovers....

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  26. Not having a Facebook account to avoid embarrassment is a copout. It's like saying if you don't want to have a car accident, don't drive. Given that may work for some, there are many other options. THINK before posting!

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  27. Is it just me, or does the title talk about SIX mistakes and the article list on FOUR ?

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  28. I can count. There are only four mistakes listed, not six.

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  29. Sorry link to the rest of article was broken. Here it is. http://ow.ly/5SlST

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  30. Who is the audience for these tips? If there is anyone in the job market that doesn't understand these 'dont's' there is no way they can be 'tipped' into acceptability.

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  31. Nelson Lake Year... no, employers can't violate privacy laws to see your private info on facebook (but some do)... See this report, offering advice to employers as to 2 things they MUST do before they google a candidate.

    http://www.businessmanagementdaily.com/glp/11661/employment-background-check.html

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  32. Employers like to know you're savvy with social media so deleting your account or not having one at all doesn't necessarily make you look good.

    Change your facebook settings for both photos and comments to just friends and watch what you post and you should be OK. (But don't forget, anything can be forwarded so if you need to clean out old questionable posts, do it now. (Esp. if you think you might have even one Frenemies!) And google yourself so you can see what comes up. This free report explains what employers are advised to do when doing background checks...
    http://www.businessmanagementdaily.com/glp/11661/employment-background-check.html

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  33. If you're facebook settings enable a search engine to pick up your information, IT IS NOT PRIVATE.

    With facebook modifying facebook corporate ethics around sharing almost daily, you must be constantly vigilant and could still be a victim of the most recent facebook wiggle-waggle.

    Before doing business with anyone, I Google them. In a search for background on a person yesterday, I found her half-naked pictures on her facebook page with all of her piercings and tats exposed; all of them. She also mentioned her employer and exposed other information that I would never expose.

    Read the T&Cs of any Internet site very carefully. You'll probably discover that they own the copyright on your life and you'll have to pay rights for it when you right your biography ;)

    BTW - I deleted my facebook account for a host of other security issues loosely related to this issue.

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  34. 1. I am not an idiot, I have never posted anything inappropriate to Face book.

    2. My account is locked, the general public does not have access.

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  35. People say we should separate personal from work life.

    Shouldn't companies do the same??

    What I do at work is what I do at work and what I do outside work is my business.

    Why shold companies check my facebook at all???

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  36. I have a question. I find Facebook depressing so I try not to use the site so everything there is very minimal at best. (I do not even say I am employed on Facebook)Is that hurting me in finding a job? Would not having a Facebook page be better?

    ReplyDelete

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