When searching for a job, many people turn to the internet to see what is out there. Job sites like Indeed, Zip Recruiter, LinkedIn and even Facebook add new job listings daily. But just as you use online sites to find information, hiring managers also use these same sites as well as other social websites to gather information about potential candidates. This can be both a blessing or a curse for a potential candidate depending on what kind of content they are displaying publicly. Before you start job searching, consider how you may be presenting yourself on social media.

It Can Be A Blessing

The best way to describe how and why hiring managers seek out potential candidates on social media is it’s much like how colleges look at high school transcripts when choosing students. They want to see the whole picture, something that a simple resume can’t give them. Your resume can list your skills and experience, but it can’t show your personality, your likes and dislikes, how you respond to offenses, what you prefer to do in your personal time, etc. Seeing pictures of your family, your dog, a baseball game you attended, or that you are perusing more knowledge in your field by joining career groups… these are all things that will benefit you in the hiring process.

It Can Be A Curse

The other side of the coin is that anything negative you post is also visible to employers. Any inappropriate pictures, language, discriminatory/racial comments or memes AND ESPECIALLY anything negative posted about your previous employers or co-workers; all of these are heavily considered in hiring decisions. Employers want to see the human side of you. If you are the most skilled person they have ever seen, but your social media communication shows that you are aggressive and have a hard time respecting authority then you are less likely to be considered.

Social media sites are one of the highest used forms of communication today. Everything you do online shows a piece of who you are as a person, which hiring managers use as a tool to help in the hiring process. So before you start sending out resumes, consider your social media strategy. It is more than just deleting negative information or posts, consider finding ways to highlight your skills. If you volunteer somewhere in your career field, continuing education or even teaching; these are all things to add to your sites so hiring managers can get a full pictures of who you are and how you will best fit on their team.