Social Media and Employment — The Truth

I’ve been told over and over by my professors — some of the most respected people in the media industry — to be cautious of what I post online. This is because, ultimately, I’m responsible for my own portrayal of myself on social media. The content I produce and post online creates my own online identity, and shapes how others come to perceive me — especially if they’ve never met me.

All of this has a point. The point I’m trying to get at here is: “What role will social media play in tomorrow’s job search? Hiring? Firing?”

I think it’s important that we have this discussion. Social media is being used in ways that we could never have even imagined, especially when it comes to job recruiting and employment.

First, it allows potential employees and employers to network. It allows employers to expand their search for potential candidates to multiple platforms, rather than being confined to solely the applications they receive. For example, they’re able to look at professionals with profiles on LinkedIn, a leading job search engine.

Secondly, it allows employers to know their candidates before they’ve even met them. It allows employers to know their interests, hobbies, perception of events, and ultimately, whether or not they’d be a good fit for the company.

The question that this raises now is: how will potential employers perceive you if they scroll through your social media or “Google search” you? Try it yourself, and see the results that come up.

Were the results surprising? Did you expect that?

As an avid social media user, I get it. Watching what you post online can be challenging, especially when you post in the spur of the moment. You might be mad about an occurrence, and you just post about it without stepping back and thinking about how you’re portraying yourself. It happens to the best of us, but it’s just a matter of finding other outlets to vent on.

Lucky for me, even though I’m impulsive, I’m smart about how I tweet. If I’m mad about a situation, I might tweet a simple emoji that reflects my attitude about a particular situation. Best case scenario though, I might just stop myself overall. I’ll have the tweet ready to go, and then just decide it to put it into drafts. In that case, I have an open conversation with someone I trust whether it be a friend or my mom. It allows me to take the conversation elsewhere that’s not online.

To really understand the full extent that social media plays in the hiring and employment process, I’ve included articles that include people who have been fired because of their posts:

http://www.oxygen.com/very-real/8-insane-social-media-posts-that-got-people-fired

For those that need some hope with social media and job opportunities, fear not. As long as you present yourself as a knowledgeable, professional candidate, you can also get hired. As mentioned earlier, social media allows for employers to find you, even if you weren’t looking to be found, and so there’s hidden opporutnities that lie.

If you make a conscious decision to present yourself in the way that best represents you, I wouldn’t be worried. It’s important that you maintain it though, even in times of doubt or anger.

I’d like to put this out there, because I really loved this moment on social media. A female had posted pictures of herself on social media and included a caption where she addresses her confidence in herself after her ex-boyfriend body-shamed her. Zendaya, a former Disney star and now an entrepreneur, saw her tweets, and encouraged her to model for her company.

Screenshots below:

The pictures in this tweet are missing now, but this is how the story began:

https://twitter.com/Zendaya/status/825158523902423041

Zendaya sent out a tweet trying to find the @ of the female portrayed in the pictures:

https://twitter.com/Zendaya/status/825158651451146241

When she found her @:

https://twitter.com/Zendaya/status/825160125455405056

Zendaya’s modeling company then became involved and started tweeting her:

https://twitter.com/dayabyzendaya/status/825174251476963328

And finally, the reaction to the job offer:

https://twitter.com/_illestCee/status/825161548645687296

In conclusion, social media both contributes to the process of hiring and firing employees. It’s a tool that gives us more accessibility and information about people than ever before — of course, depending on how much they share.

I leave you with this:

Be cautious of what you post on social media. Even with privacy settings on high, you can still face the consequences. It’s just what the world has come to, and we can’t do anything about it but learn to adapt to it.

Got any questions or comments? Leave them below, or tweet me at @skxndil.