Social Media: Your Friend or Foe?

Social media is all the rage! We’re talking about MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Of course, there are other sites, but the “MFTL” superfecta (in horse racing, superfecta is the four horses that finish first, second, third and fourth) leads the pack by miles.

It’s amazing what social media has done for the recruiting industry. Companies are enjoying great success using social media tools to find candidates, and job seekers are finding opportunities on social media sites. Recruiters have access to more passive candidates than ever before. It’s great!

But job seekers need to be aware of the impact social media can have on their job search.

When you e-mail your resume today, unlike in the past, you are not anonymous, nor is your resume just “words on a piece of paper.” There are tools such as Xobni that use your e-mail address to find your social media profiles. Oftentimes your picture, contact information, and comments friends posted about the party you were at last weekend are all visible. Of course, each site has its own levels of security, which limits the amount of information available, but I doubt you’ve really gone through the security and privacy preferences to make sure your social media profiles are “HR friendly” for purposes of your job search.

And that’s exactly what I recommend. If you are conducting a job search, make sure all of your social media profiles are “HR friendly.”

Oh, and don’t forget that old profile you haven’t accessed for years. All of your social media profiles are still out there unless you’ve closed the accounts. Remember, what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, but what you post on social media sites stays on social media sites.

As a recruiter, I regularly ask people to join me on LinkedIn and Facebook. I find it’s helpful if people can get to know a little bit about who I am and see a picture of me even before we meet in person. It’s important that I see my candidates’ profiles, and I advise them to clean them up when necessary. My clients are human. They are curious, they do search for your profiles, and they will pass judgment.

Social media sites are critical communication tools when conducting a job search. You have to use them! I just advise you to edit your profiles and accounts so that when you need to use them for professional purposes, you can without fear. Learn about and adjust the security and privacy options on the social media sites you belong to. The settings are powerful and can allow you to have fun with your friends and, at the same time, have an appropriate version for purposes of your job search.

Trust me, as the social media superfecta grapple with the need to monetize their databases of millions of members in order to turn a profit, more and more of your personal information will be used for commercial purposes. The good news is that technology is providing you with plenty of options to protect that data. So use it!

Jonathan Broder is the author and founder of Strategic Professional Staffing www.stratpros.com and his blog is at www.stratprose.com