Social Networking – How it can affect your job search.

Posted on November 24, 2009. Filed under: Employment, Employment Agencies, Job Seekers, Recruiters |

Recruiters Connection, the online national directory of Recruiting Companies, asked Wendy Oliveras, a search consultant and career planning and development advisor to talk about Social Networking and how it can affect your job search today. Wendy provided us with these timeless tips and strategies.

The Internet provides many popular social networking choices today, such as YouTube, MySpace, Twitter and Facebook to name a few. But, if you are not careful, what you put out there about yourself can harm your chances of getting that dream job.

Aside from customary reference checks of previous jobs, prospective employers are increasingly using these common Internet sites as a means to quietly and informally investigate your background and discretely probe into your private life. Whether this is intentional or not, the fact remains that a future employer can and will use the Internet to Google your name and visit these sites in order to check your past, which may reveal a concern to them. For example, for those job seekers who still have not cleaned up their MySpace or Facebook page, you are only decreasing your chances of obtaining a job. With the job market as tight as it is today, employers are not impressed with your pictures of last night’s crazy party or that wild weekend with friends. That said, what you do in your private life is your business. However, what you enter on MySpace.com, YouTube.com, or Twitter, will be exposed to the world.

In going forward, consider the following suggestions on what you can do to help make your social networking page “employer friendly”.

Do not post photos or videos that you feel would potential shock and employer.
Do not write anything that you feel would be too personal and/or embarrassing for an employer to read.
Be mindful of what you post in general.

If you are going to use social networking sites as a means to enhance your background, do not post anything offensive, embarrassing or misleading, which could hinder your job search.

Visit Recruiters Connection today and connect to your future. Wendy Oliveras can be reached at wo@oliverascoinc.com or on the web at www.oliverascoinc.com.