In a study conducted by CareerBuilder, surveyors found that 37 percent of hiring managers use social media sites to research potential employees. At the top of the list, 65 percent of these employers use Facebook to research job candidates.
With the amount of employers looking at social media sites, it’s crucial that you maintain a good reputation online. Check out these reasons why it’s important for future jobs.
They Want to See if You’re A Good Fit for the Company
How to Find Out If a Company is a Cultural Fit for You
Most everything you post online, from Facebook statuses and tweets to blog comments, portrays some aspect of your personality. Employers are often looking at whether or not your personality fits well with the company. While they also assess this in the interview, many employers want to know more about you. Don’t be afraid to show who you are online, but be careful about what you say, and try to portray the type of image that you want an employer to see.
They’re Looking for Reasons Not to Hire You
6 Steps To Managing Your Online Reputation
With the wide variety of candidates who apply for jobs, hiring managers want to narrow down the pool of applicants. When they go online, many employers are looking for reasons not to hire you so that they have fewer candidates to choose from. In fact, 43 percent of employers who search social media sites say that they’ve found information online that caused them not to hire a candidate, according to a CareerBuilder study.
If you maintain a clean reputation, however, then your application will likely stay in the stack. Some examples of things that can ruin your reputation and put you out of the running for a job include:
- Party photos
- References to drugs or sex
- Rude language
- Poor communication skills
- Racial or discriminatory comments
They Want to Verify Information
Employers Are Scoping Out Job Candidates On Social Media – But What Are They Finding?
Employers don’t always check the Internet just to see what your personality is like. Many simply do a quick Google search to ensure that what’s on your application is, in fact, correct. For example, they might be looking for where you’ve previously worked, or they might verify your volunteer experience. CareerBuilder says that of the hiring managers who took applicants out of the running for a position, 24 percent said it was because the candidate lied about their qualifications on their application.
It’s okay if they can’t find this information; it shows that you’re responsible enough to manage your online presence. To protect private information like this, turn to Reputation.com, and like them on Facebook for updates and the latest news about Reptuation.com.
They Want to Know You’re Serious About the Industry
Would You Like To Improve Your Reputation As A Designer?
Another reason that employers check social media sites is to get an idea of how serious you are about working in the industry. Some things they might look at include:
- Do you share industry-related posts on Facebook?
- Do you engage in industry-related groups on LinkedIn?
- Do you interact with other people in your industry on Twitter?
All of these things become important to employers, and with the rising number of businesses that are screening their employees through online searches and social media, it’s important to maintain a good reputation.