Remove these Posts from Social Media when Finding Jobs

Our previous post already discussed how you had to clean up your digital life before finding a job. Many potential employers now routinely look at your social media to determine if you'd make a good fir for the company. It's not enough, however, to remove questionable pictures. You must also delete the following types of posts.

• Complaints may paint you as a troublemaker and hothead if you use social media to vent your anger against businesses, coworkers, bosses, industries or the government. If you want to warn your followers against unsavory business practices, balance the complaint with a suggestion for improvement. Potential employers will then see you as someone who likes to solve problems.
  
• Political commentary. It's a free country and you're entitled to your opinion. But what happens if your employer does not share your views, or consider your opinions extreme or radical? Many bosses don't really care what you think but they may be concerned about how customers may view your commentaries, especially if you work in jobs with public contact, such as sales or customer service. Play it safe by removing any posts with a hint of politics.
  
• Confidential information. If you've signed a confidentiality clause with your current or past employers, then you are legally bound not to repeat anything on social media that could violate that clause. And even if you didn't, you must not post anything that your potential employer might see as confidential, including unreleased technology, vendor contracts and discount, or profit and loss figures. Even innocent praise for a successful project can be seen as inappropriate if it discusses something that is not public knowledge. Only post information about your company that already exists online or in printed media.
  

You want your social media to present the best possible side of you to potential employers. For more ways to do that or if you want help in finding a job, please contact us.