Communications of the ACM
Social Media 101: Facebook and Job Hunting
Credit: Student Branding Blog
As social networking sites such as Facebook become an increasingly important part of the job search, candidates should adjust their current approach to Facebook. If you're job hunting, remember that Facebook is a public place where people can enter your world and see all of the information that you post. Unless you take time to personalize your privacy settings, everyone has free access to your information, posts and photos. Since your Facebook conversations are public, you should think about posting information that presents you in the best light to potential recruiters, as well as tweaking some settings to create a more professional image.
Presenting yourself as a professional requires you to consider how you use your Facebook page. The most important thing to consider is your Privacy settings. By default, much of your information is set to "Everyone." However, you can also customize these settings. For example, you can make your status updates viewable only by certain people or certain groups you create within your Friends list. You can also set your photo albums and the Places where you check in to be viewable only by specific groups of people. This way, employers cannot see any unflattering comments you may post or be bombarded with unflattering photos. Many professionals will set their privacy settings so that employers and colleagues can only see some information, while friends and family members can only view other information.
To better manage your Facebook account, add some professional touches to your profile. When you are searching for a position, use your profile to tell a story about you. Join groups on Facebook that will allow you to really network and get people to come to your page. One thing that you don't want to do is to join a company's career page and then make negative comments about that company. While you may apply for one position and not be successful, other opportunities could become available. Start by using a professional photo, filling in your bio and work information using keywords, and publishing updates that are appropriate for your professional network — including possible updates letting your network know you are in search of a job.
From Student Branding Blog
View Full Article
No entries found