The Dos & Don’ts of Social Networking Sites When Searching for a Job

As you'll see this article is written for my clients (soldiers and their families). Obviously most of you reading here are already a part of the social networking community in one form or another. ;) Again, probably some repetitive information, but reminders are a good thing!

How many of you are already on a social networking site or have a blog? Have you thought about using your Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn page to network for jobs? And have you looked at your profile recently to see just who you are presenting to employers?

With extensive networking available through the use of social media sites, the ability to be connected to jobs seems endless. When networking is such a large part of finding employment, don’t be afraid to use your social networking accounts to help you in the process! Have you let others know that you are or will be searching for a job? And have you contacted any soldiers who have already separated or past and current civilian friends about positions that they’ve found? An easy way to find out about other jobs is to just ask others. What easier way is there to connect with many employed individuals than to tap into your circle of “friends?”

While social networking has the ability to open employment doors, your profile and what you publicly post can also shut doors. Many employers now use social networking sites and internet searches to run character checks on their current or potential employees. You may want to keep that fact in mind when you set up privacy settings for your page and when you post on other public walls. Since most sites show profile pictures regardless of privacy settings, you’ll want to select an appropriate profile picture as well. Any comments, statuses, blog postings, pictures, etc that can be pulled up from a little internet searching, have the ability to influence an employer’s opinion on you. If you wouldn’t want your boss, coworkers, or clients/customers to see it, then you may want to either a) double check that each spot your posting is unsearchable and private b) unconnect (tag) yourself from others postings and/or c) think twice about posting it at all. Additionally, some human resource departments admit to contacting individuals from “friends” lists as additional references.

As you can see, social networking can both work in favor and against any potential employment. Don’t be afraid to utilize your profiles to assist in your job search, but also keep in mind that public (and sometimes private) information is indeed public. As with any part of the job search and professionalism, try to put and keep your best face forward!