Have you checked out your social media footprint lately?
Well, maybe you should.
Here’s why…
Jobvite’s 2014 annual Social Recruiting Survey shows exactly what hiring managers are looking for when they check out your social media sites.
And the results may shock you.
The data shows a staggering 93% of bosses are checking out potential employees social media profile before making a final hiring decision. Of these, 55% admit to reconsidering a candidate based on what they found online.
Employers note the biggest turn-offs on potential candidates on-line profiles as including any reference to drugs, poor grammar and spelling, and any reference to sexual activity.
On the plus side, most employers are engaging social media to recruit staff now, with 94% using LinkedIn and 64% using Facebook to advertise a job. In fact, 73% of all jobs offered are now filled through social media.
Starting to panic?
There are various sites available to check out your social media footprint. Or anyone else’s you may have an interest in…just saying.
Google and Google Images are a good starting point. Then there’s Pipl.com and Spezify.com if you want to up the ante on your stalking. You can even check for a criminal record. Gives a new meaning to the whole concept of ‘checking references’.
How can you make this right?
In truth, it’s difficult. Check out this article on How easy it is to delete yourself from the web
I’m sure the day will come, and very soon, where we will be able to contract a company to erase our social media history, at an affordable price. It may not too bad for those of us who only discovered social media in our twenties, when most of our crazy days were behind us, but for those who grew up in the shadows of social media platforms, it really is a different story. For many, their social media history created in their carefree teenage years, may haunt them long into their thirties and beyond.
Surely this isn’t fair or right? Or is it? Is this the true meaning of freedom of information?
Check out this social media experiment carried out by Jack Vale Films. It’ll make you think before you post…