How Harmless Is It?
It seems harmless. After a wild Friday night, you post some goofy pictures of yourself and your friends to Facebook. Sure, they’re a little risqué, but you’re an adult, and it’s not like your grandmother is going to see them. Everyone who knows you will know you were just having fun. No harm, no foul, right?
Wrong. One of the social media dangers effecting college students today is not realizing who is looking at their posts.
Recruiters Are Looking
In the age of the internet, you need to assume anything you post can, in theory, be seen by anyone and everyone. It’s easy to slip up on privacy settings, or for a friend to share or forward photos and comments without thinking. Social media safety is a big deal, and it can make a big impact. In fact, social media issues could be the reason you don’t get that dream job. In a recent survey by CareerBuilder, over 40% of polled employers said they use social media to screen possible hires. Of that 40%, nearly a third “said they have found problems that resulted in them rejecting the candidate.” What kind of problems? Here’s the breakdown:
Candidate’s provocative/inappropriate photos/comments — 49 percent
Candidate drinking or using drugs — 45 percent
Candidate had “poor communication skills” — 35 percent
Candidate bad-mouthed a previous employer — 33 percent
Candidate made discriminatory comments related to race, gender or religion — 28 percent
Candidate lied about qualifications — 22 percent”
A Blast From the Past Can Shoot Down Your Dream Job
As you can see, there are all kinds of ways to jeopardize your hireability–even more subjective ones, like “poor communication skills.” The moral of the story is, think before you post. If you are applying for jobs now, go back through your photos and comments to make sure there’s nothing you’ve missed. Believe me, you do not want that picture from freshman orientation week to come back to haunt you 5 or 6 years later. Monitor what your friends share with you too. Remove posts by others that may impact your reputation, bluestacks download for pc and ask that iffy photos be taken down.
Social media safety is a serious issue as computers and technology get faster and faster–don’t underestimate the risk. If you want to make a difference, consider having a college social media speaker come to your school. Get the word out!
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