The Internet has revolutionized how job searches are conducted, and it also gives businesses more resources for researching potential job candidates. Whereas previously private lives stayed private relatively easily, social media makes everyone's lives more public. Social media sites are now so commonly used some HR professionals are suspicious if job applicants don't have a profile. As a result, deleting social media profiles before applying for jobs is ill-advised; editing them is your better option.
It's important to schedule regular times to update your online accounts anyway, but this is especially important when job searching. A single offensive joke or a party photo potentially disqualifies you from your dream job if the wrong person sees it. Enter your name in various search engines and see what results appear. Any results from your individual profiles that do not seem favorable need to be deleted immediately.
Check your profiles for content that others posted as well. If a friend posted a picture or comment that is potentially offensive, delete it because it may be seen by a recruiter. You get judged by all the content on your social media websites, even if you did not post all that content yourself.
Change the privacy settings on your posts that you don't want to delete but don't want your potential employers to view. Be careful about making all your accounts and posts private, however. Recruiters get suspicious if all your social media profiles are blocked from public view as it looks like you're hiding something. You want the appearance of transparency even when there are things you want to keep private.
Start a blog, if you don't have one already, to further clean up your social media presence. The blog needs to be related to your profession, and you need to update it at least once a month to keep it active in search engines. You want the blog to be one of the first things a potential boss sees when searching for you online. If you have a personal blog that isn't related to work, think about whether it benefits you professionally or not. If it doesn't, delete it.
Post updated content on your profiles frequently to further bury any of your older content. This includes photos, status updates and videos. Include video and photo-sharing sites when scoping your profiles for any damaging content. If you can't delete certain content from a website, email that website directly and request removal. You want as much negative material removed or hidden as possible before your job searching begins. A single photo or status update can cause you to lose a job, so remain dedicated to improving your social media presence.
Consider your overall online presentation as part of your job. Your social media profiles are an extension of yourself and how you are perceived. View every post and every photo from an outside perspective. If you don't want a parent to see a post, it's not appropriate for an employer either. Your professional future depends on your diligence.
(Photo courtesy of Sira Anamwong / freedigitalphotos.net)
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