Those who are now seniors at NYIT started college at a time when social networking sites were little more than an afterthought; a fairly new online concept that remained relatively exclusive. Fast forward to the tail end of 2009 and we are living in a society fully immersed in the likes of Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter. An example of this phenomenal growth is that in the five short years since Facebook was founded by college student Mark Zuckerberg, membership has grown to over 300 million worldwide.
Many of us cannot go a day without checking our networking pages, but how many of us know exactly what they are? Social networks such as those mentioned above are websites that allow you to join an online community and interact with fellow users who share similar interests. They have evolved to incorporate far more than that since their humble beginnings, and now regularly include features such as user videos and marketing campaigns.
Social networking sites present our online persona, and therefore employers are increasingly turning to these online resources not only for recruitment, but also background checks. "If your social networking profile makes you look like an employment risk, you can lose a job before you even get your foot in the door," says CollegeGrad.com Director of Marketing and PR Adeola Ogunwole. This means that college students who are currently or soon-to-be in the job market need to be aware of their social networking image, and must carefully manage their individual pages accordingly. It is important that you present yourself in a professional light to give yourself every chance of getting the job that you deserve.
There are numerous examples of perfectly qualified candidates being ruled out on the basis of what they put online. A study by Careerbuilder.com found that 22% of those in charge of hiring, screen social networking sites. Hopefully this guide will steer you clear of that nightmare scenario.
It is important to remember that you don't have to come across like a saint, but you also don't want a potential employer to view you as a drunken mess.
Clean up your online image by following these three steps, as provided by CollegeGrad.com:
1. Adjust the privacy settings of your social networking sites so that only your official "friends" can see your pages.
2. Remove any photos of embarrassing or offensive situations. A snap of you passed out and smeared in lipstick might not sit well with your next boss.
3. Try and sensor the sort of conversations that take place on your pages. A post on your wall reminiscing about the previous night's debauchery doesn't look professional.
4. Don't just remove anything that might be negative; make a conscious effort to include things that are positive and make you look good!
Hopefully these tips will prove useful. As I have come to realize, your four years of college fly by, so even if you are not currently a job seeker there is every chance that you soon will be!
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