Facebook: The New Job Application

For years now SNS have become more prominent and have become intertwined with everyday living.  Every moment of a persons life is documented on a "wall" or a "timeline" for others to view at the push of a button. Companies have caught on with this trend and are utilizing it to its full potential. Many cases have been documented where companies have turned down applicants for a job due to the content that is posted on their social media pages.

Now is this right for companies to do? That raises a whole level of ethical issues concerning peoples rights to post what they want on their social media pages. However, when you are at the point in your life where you are looking for a professional job, you shouldn't be posting pictures and information that would deem you unprofessional to begin with. Companies are using this "interviewing" process to their advantage because they believe that this really shows the character of the applicant and really gives the employers a good sense of who they are hiring.

According to career builder, more than 43 percent of hiring managers have found info on social media that have cost applicants the job. Mostly due to posing inappropriate or provocative pictures or information of themselves at a whopping 50 percent.With these numbers, there should be absolutely no reason why people who are serious about a job search should be posting unprofessional things on a social media website.

Courtesy of: Forbes Magazine

Some tips on "Cleaning Up":
Now that you know how badly social media can affect your career, here are some tips on clearing your name of any nonsense.

1. Search yourself:
• searching for yourself is a great way to see what is actually posted and connected to your name over a wide variety of websites.
2. Delete:
• if you even have to ask yourself if something is appropriate enough to post online, odds are, its probably not. Delete anything that shows or says anything inappropriate or anything that is illegal. 
3. Post Positive:
• start associating yourself with "likes" that show professionalism. Like pages that have something to do with what you want to do with your life career wise. Start posting your work or big career steps to show that your work is everything to you and that you take it seriously.