Social media can spell success for some
By Katie O’Brien
A recent study from the Journal of Applied Social Sciences shows how social networking profiles can be used to predict your success in the workplace.
According to a study by the Personality Assessment firm OPP, more than half of all employers already look to sites like Facebook, Twitter and Linked-In to assess job candidates before they even interview. This week, Phoenix 14 talked to Assistant Director for Career Services Ross Wade. Here are some of his tips for keeping your social media sites ready for potential employers.
- Stay Positive. By writing negative comments about classmates, professors or supervisors you create a negative impression of yourself.
- Don’t worry about blocking. Just because you block someone doesn’t mean that you have something to hide. Appropriate privacy settings are a sign of being technologically savvy.
- Not all drinking pictures are bad. Generally avoid having pictures at parties or with alcohol, but a social drink isn’t a red flag to most employers. An occasional picture that shows a drink in your hand can demonstrate extroversion that could be useful in a group work environment. But don’t forget the viewer can check your birth date to make sure you are of age.
- Care about your work. If you are involved in any activities, show that on your profile. Employers see that you are dedicated to your work if you re-tweet or “like” businesses or activities on social media.
- Show your diversity. Show what you are about, but don’t look limited by staying in one area. Create a profile that shows you are multifaceted.
- Connect with people. To post your thoughts is important, but don’t let your status updates take over your wall. When friends write on your wall or comment on your posts it shows that you are using social media to create relationships, not just to look at other people’s profiles.
- Keep it up to date. Some things stay the same but most things change. Keep your information, likes and pictures up to date to give employers a look at the current you.
- Beware of what your friends post. You can control what you post, but be aware that your friends’ posts reflect you too. Posts regarding inside jokes can be misconstrued by outsiders.
- Have multiple accounts. It is a possibility to have an account for business and an account for personal use, but just because you give an employer your business account doesn’t mean they won’t look for your personal one. Keep both of them appropriate for viewers.
- Lastly, be yourself. Consider your social media profile to be your personal resume. Let it reflect the real you.
This entry was posted on February 27, 2012 at 5:48 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments.
Tags: employment, Facebook, job search, Katie O'Brien, networking, social media
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