Even though using social media the right way can hook you up with the right people at the right time, if used improperly, social media can be a real job-killer. It can be the ultimate deal-breaker in a matter of seconds and it can seriously hurt your career. Nowadays, a lot of employers are checking out the social media profiles of their applicants to weed out the undesirable candidates. There are even surveys that say that approximately 70 percent of U.S. business managers say that they decided not to hire a job candidate based on the information they found about them online. That’s why it’s important to keep your virtual self virtuous, so you can enjoy the benefits social media can bring to your career. Here are 7 social media mistakes that could hurt your job hunt:
One of the biggest social media mistakes that can really hurt your job search is posting different complaints about your old job or your old (or even actual) boss on your page. Even if that post is safe from your boss, one of your colleagues could forward it to them and you may end up losing your job. Also, if a potential employer sees that you badmouthed your former job or boss, they may decide not to hire you since they might think that you will do this in the future too.
Any comment meant to offend a group or an individual might cost you your job. There are a lot of companies that don’t approve of that sort of behavior, so try not to post offensive comments even if you find them amusing; your boss might think otherwise.
Just like complaining about your boss on social media can have a negative impact on your career, mocking your customers can also hurt your job hunt. Complaining about customers will only put the company you work for in a bad light, so try to avoid doing that, especially if you are looking for a new and better paying job.
Tweeting about a potential job offer is never a good idea. First of all, job offers are confidential and if you post details about something that’s on the verge of happening on social media, your future boss might label you as gossipy or untrustworthy and this behavior may result in your offer being revoked.
You know that they say: “Don’t put anything online you wouldn’t comfortably share with your Grandma at the dinner table.” Posting suggestive photos of yourself or your friends on social media won’t earn you a pay raise or a corner office.
If you want to work for a certain company, make sure that you learn their social media policy because if you don’t follow it, you could end up losing your job. Try not to break your company’s social media rules if you want to maintain a good reputation. If you want to join a company that has a strict code of online conduct and you can’t see yourself not making sassy comments on Facebook, then maybe that job is not the right fit for you.
Make sure that every time you post something on social media, you read it carefully so you avoid those annoying spelling or grammar mistakes. Just review your post before pressing Enter because those grammatical errors can make you look careless, so be careful and keep your professional reputation intact.
If you want social media to not affect your job search, then clean up your pages, maintain a good online reputation and keep job news offline. What other social media mistakes can hurt your job hunt? Please share your thoughts with us in the comments section!
Sources:
mashable.com
payscale.com
careercast.com
canadianliving.com
edition.cnn.com