Social Media Jobs Archives

12 Social Media Career Ending Mistakes to Avoid

Play it smart with Social Media, and don’t make these mistakes when it comes to putting your career at stake.

Social media if used properly could mean the difference between getting the job you want, or making a mistake that could prevent you from getting the job you have applied for. Here are a number of social media mistakes that you should steer clear of.

We are more electronically connected than ever before, and with connections come the responsibility to be wise about what you post, where you post, and how you are viewed on social media platforms. Here are some examples:

1.) Be careful what you say

It’s easy to get caught up in a discussion or post about an incident that happened where you might vent or post a derogatory opinion about a race, religion, nationality or political group that might be sensitive to a lot of people.

Whether you meant to post it as a joke or a prank, a lot of people might see it, including your employer or prospective employer, and they might have a negative opinion about your post or opinion, and they might take it the wrong way, which could mean your job.

2.) Watch what and where you post

Be mindful of what you post, and where you post it. Posting an inappropriate photo of yourself in a compromising situation, for example, will land you in hot water if someone you work with, or someone you interviewed with sees it.

Also, stay away from posting photos of yourself while intoxicated. These types of behavior might not be what the company wants in their candidates. Also, don’t assume a potential employer is only checking one of your social media profiles.

They check LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Google, Instagram, and other public profiles they may find online about you.

3.) Badmouthing your company or boss

Negative venting about your job, company or boss is never a good idea. Remember the world-wide-web is open 24/7, and you never know if a colleague knows the person you may be badmouthing. Negative talk almost always gets back to people in no time.

You don’t want it to come back and haunt you if you’re about to get a job offer or promotion. This badmouthing might also affect future job opportunities too.

4.) Poor use of spelling, punctuation, and grammar in your posts

This will give the reader an indication that you lack the ability to clearly communicate your message and ideas effectively. You don’t want to get written off before you have a chance to prove your worth to a company because of typos or poorly written posts or comments.

5.) Posting personal information about job offers, interviews, income, etc.

Personal information is simply that. Personal. Confidentiality is critically important when it comes to your livelihood and how you earn a living. With increased risks of personal accounts getting hacked, and personal information stolen, we should be even more protective of our personal information.

If you post that you received a job offer, and criticize the offering party because it wasn’t exactly what you wanted or they tried to low-ball you, don’t resort to any disrespectful comments. It’s just not a good idea.

6.) Plagiarizing

I can’t stress enough the importance of using your own content, material, and voice. Plagiarism is most definitely frowned upon in any shape or form. It has no place in the business world. It is wrong at many different levels, and speaks volumes about the lack of creativity, integrity, and business morals and ethics.

If you’re quoting an article, posting a photo or tweet, give credit where credit is due, and cite the source and author.

7.) Badmouthing your customers

We all have days where things don’t go as smoothly as we would like. Maybe your customer is giving you a hard time about an order or complaining about your product or service, or how you delivered it.

Whether you work in the corporate world, retail, or a service industry, it’s never a good idea to badmouth your customers, especially if you post it on social media. It shows your company or business in a negative light. Don’t make these mistakes, because they could be detrimental to your career or job.

8.) Zero presence on Social Media

Not having a presence on any social media platforms could hurt your chances if a potential employer is looking to find information on your character, background, history, education, charity work, or general information that may help them to see what kind of profile you may have.

If they don’t find anything on you, they may get suspicious, and decide not to pursue you as a future employee.

Participating and being active online shows that you are serious about contributing to meaningful conversations. Following links is a good way of staying on top of industry news and topics of interest. Establish yourself as an industry expert by commenting on questions with relevant answers and following links and posts.

After spending some time on several social media platforms, you’ll get an idea of which ones are used by industries you are interested in. Also, be sure to make connections with industry leaders to increase your chances for job opportunities.

9.) Add your website URL

If you don’t have a personal website, it’s easy to set up. Many hosting companies offer it for free if you host with them, or you can search online for free website templates. If on the other hand you do have a personal website, make sure you showcase your resume and work experience on your website. Be sure to add your website address to your other social media profiles too.

Keep it professional like LinkedIn and Twitter, but not your personal Facebook profile. It shows a potential employer that you are connected to social media, and serious about presenting your professional profile in a positive light.

This also demonstrates that you know your way around the world of social media, and it also helps if an employer wants to connect with you.

10.) Start connecting with the right people

When researching who to connect with, LinkedIn would be one that I would start with first. Sometimes there are job opportunities that aren’t advertised on job boards, and finding contacts at organizations who have openings that are not advertised might take a little work.

When putting together a list of prospects, look at individuals who are connected with mutual contacts, and maybe people in the same industry as you, and even people who could recommend you to someone who has a job opening.

You can find information about an individual and their role at an organization on LinkedIn by doing job title searches within a geography or by a specific company name.

Once you have identified your list, start connecting with them, follow them on Twitter, and share and repost their tweets as well.

11.) Start a blog

Blogging is a great way to start getting exposure to new contacts and showcasing your knowledge to a potential employer. If you’ve never considered starting a blog, you might find that your posts might catch the eye of an important hiring manager or recruiter with an opening that may fit your background and experience.

12.) Keep your profile up to date and accurate

Consistency is key here. If you have multiple social media profiles, all of them should be updated with current information. One of the most important aspects of managing your personal information on social media accounts is to keep that information private.

Social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and others allow you to manage what you want to share with friends and the general public. If a potential employer does a search on you, they won’t be able to see personal details that you don’t want them to see.

Social Media and your Job Search

Why Social Media has become one of the most important pre-employment research steps for companies for hiring employees.

Social media in its many forms has become an important element in our daily lives, both in business and private life. We have an insatiable need to be connected with each other at different levels. Fortunately for many of us, there are multiple venues where we can do this. The job search component is an important part of that connectivity.

Companies of all sizes have been using social media as a way to further screen applicants for their company positions for some time now. It’s sort of a new version of the background check method. Potential employers verify dates, employers, titles, roles, and other public information that they can find to verify information they have gathered about you.

What is Social Media?

Social media is a collection of websites and application enablement tools that empower the public to participate in social networking to let their voice be heard. With the introduction of new technologies, platforms and websites that cater to social media, it’s becoming easier to communicate with recruiters, hiring managers, friends, family and various business contacts that may have job opportunities, or know of people who are hiring.

There’s the inherent human connectivity factor that allows us to express our opinions, thoughts, and ideas that some organizations might be attracted to and might consider valuable.

Why is Social Media so important to your job search?

Social media is one of the most important forms of communication available to the masses. It offers a vast array of platforms to communicate your message to let people know that you are the candidate they should hire. Recruiters and business professionals have been using social media for years, and rely on it to source candidates for their job openings.

Here are some top social networking sites for job seekers

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Pinterest

Let’s look at some social media platforms.

LinkedIn

Largely used by business professionals. LinkedIn is a large professional network where you can connect with other business professionals. You can create or participate in discussion groups, or interact at a social level. LinkedIn has over 500 million members (2018) and is widely viewed as a business/professional social networking site. Co-workers, friends, and clients are able to endorse the skills you list in your profile, and anyone who’s worked with you at your previous jobs are also able to leave you a review about the work you did for them or with them.

LinkedIn is being used more and more by employers to find qualified job applicants, and screen for potential contacts that could add value as a connection, and possibly a referral for a job applicant. Here’s how to get started.

If you don’t have a LinkedIn account, you can go to linkedin.com to register and create a profile. Complete the basic and additional information sections of your profile.

Update your work history, experience, education, accomplishments, certifications, or other relevant skills you have acquired that will showcase your skill set. Keep it professional.

Start using job search tools on LinkedIn to generate interest from companies and recruiters.

Include a professionally dressed headshot photo.

Connect with business associates that you know, alumni, and new ones that you meet on a regular basis.

Post your best work. (If there’s no copyright restrictions).

Join groups in your industry, be active, follow organizations that interest you, and participate in discussions from thought leaders. The more connections you have, the better your chances of exposure to new opportunities.

Twitter

A free microblogging service which allows registered members to stay connected via short posts with friends, family, co-workers, organizations, industries, and professionals. This form of communication is called “tweeting”, and you can include links, photos, and video. These short posts are limited to 140 text characters. Here’s how to get started.

Create a Twitter handle and professional profile. Keep it simple.

Build a respectable profile with your opportunity interests and any links to your website (if you have one), or social media accounts.

Establish connections with friends, co-workers, and high value people.

Share your content and expertise, opinions, industry knowledge, and samples of your work.

Upload a professional headshot photo.

Build credibility by answering questions or voting on polls of interest.

Look up articles and tweets of interest, follow, reply, and retweet.

Do a job search by title, location, company, or specific contact.

Follow hashtags. You can type in a keyword then add a hashtag at the end. Here’s what they would look like: #Example.

Facebook

Chances are, you probably use Facebook to connect to friends and family. Facebook has expanded its reach into professional networking, given it already has many of the professional contacts you would find in other social media platforms.

This is just another way to extend your reach out to professionals that could be of value to your network. When creating a Facebook account, you may want to keep your personal and professional profiles separate.

Look for positions that you can apply for through Facebook. This is typically done through links that take you to external career websites with job postings.

Most Social Media platforms have like buttons so you can like an article, photo, or posting. A good way to start is to “like” your own Facebook profile, and other social media sites where you are a member.

Post a video that shows your professional presentation, speaking, and problem solving skills.

Be real to your audience. Showing you are genuine and authentic shows character.

Start discussions, answer questions, offer links with informative content, and comment on posts where you can add value, and at the same time build credibility.

Customize your profile settings so you can have control over who sees personal content and professional content. This can be accomplished using the friend list feature in your privacy settings.

This platform is content rich in the creative marketing, graphic arts and visual display space. It provides a creative way to showcase your talents and exhibit your creative side. Postings on Pinterest are called “pinning”. These can be displayed as a collection of pins with a common theme.

Come up with a creative headline that highlights your top five accomplishments.

Draft an infographic resume that includes images or illustrations of your body of work, and visual graphics that help illustrate messaging. If you have a difficult time designing graphics for the graphic version of your resume, there are applications that can help you with that like Kinzaa, Re.vu, Easelly, Visual CV, and CeeVee, just to name a few.

Add links to your profile like photos, videos, and professional information.

For other job related statistics and relevant data, you can visit the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics website at www.bls.com