The world of job hunting amounts
to a sneaky balancing act. There exist a number of jobseekers who proudly announce,
“I do not believe in social media,”
as if it were integrated into one’s belief system. Social media is, of course,
a reality, and not subject to debate like UFOs or Greek mythology.
Below superficial
beliefs, there exists an ongoing dichotomy. Some people just do not want to be
found. Job hunters, however, do not have the luxury of having it both ways.
When you are job hunting, you want employers
to find you: You just don’t want your employer
finding out. That’s the dichotomy.
How does one put him/herself out there on
the job market without attracting unwanted attention?
A plethora of
social media is available just for the asking. Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn
rank among the more popular. I often caution clients not to Tweet or respond to
Tweets while in job-search mode. Your oh-so clever Tweets may not be viewed in
the context you intended.
Facebook has its
own set of drawbacks. It was intended as a social connection tool for close
friends and relatives. Today, Facebook has mushroomed into a cacophony of
friends of strangers and shirttail relatives for which you may be clueless as
to who they are. Your reputation can be tarnished by their indiscreet actions
(postings)—regarded as guilt through association.
If you have a
Facebook account, and you are an active jobseeker, it is time to limit your
exposure. From the top navigation bar where your name appears, toward the right
of that line you will find the image of a padlock. Pressing the padlock opens
the dropdown menu. The first option: Who
can see my stuff? It is time for jobseekers to adjust that access, or suspend
that account. At the minimum, remove questionable posts and photos, including references
to your political and religious preferences.
LinkedIn is
different. Every serious jobseeker needs to have a publicly visible account.
The lack of an account raises more questions than having this footprint. The two
biggest dangers are alerting your employer and having an account that
materially conflicts with other information. If your LinkedIn page says one
thing and your résumé or credit history states otherwise, that amounts to a
serious red flag discrepancy.
Updating and perfecting
your LinkedIn account while gainfully employed represents an ongoing hazard.
Each time you adjust your information, LinkedIn assumes you want the world to
know what you’re up to. To avoid tipping off your employer that you are actively
on the job market, simply turn off the network
notification feature.
This easy fix is often
overlooked by novice LinkedIn users.
To turn-off having LinkedIn announcing your every update, sign in to
the account. To the right of Home on
the navigation line is Profile. Use
the dropdown feature and select Edit
Profile. Toward the bottom right corner of the Edit page you will see, Notify your network. If Yes appears, switch it to No.
For jobseekers to
assume they are not leaving a social footprint amounts to extreme naiveté. Fear
over Big Brother prying into their lives pales in comparison to what Corporate
America can accomplish. They have easy access to credit information, court
documents and proceedings, voting info, medical records and driving history. If
they need to know more, that too is available.
While we pretend
to live in a participatory democracy, it is merely an illusion, masquerading as
a false truth. (How is that for
doublespeak?) Today, we live in a well-represented plutocracy. Like those
who don’t believe in social media, it is reality whether we openly admit it or
not.
Copyrighted (c) 2015 by Robert James