Facebook Privacy

In order to maintain a professional persona, we must take into account the “relaxed version” of ourselves that is often depicted on social media. Does this portray a side of ourselves that is less professional or more controversial, through the eyes of a potential employer? It’s important to be cognizant of these choices and reflect upon the public image that is made available to the world through Facebook.

This doesn’t mean that everyone should shut down their social media accounts, as they move up the professional ladder, but privacy is key, when it comes to Facebook. Let’s face it, employers use social media as a tool for vetting potential job candidates, in order to double check against first impressions. A post that reflects a long overdue, night out on the town, may present a different impression through the eyes of a potential employer.

There are several ways of optimizing Facebook security that can help protect us from sharing too much. The following method will help optimize Facebook settings:

• Log into Facebook
• Click on the “account” (down arrow) tab at the top right corner of the main page
• Open the “settings & privacy” in the drop down menu on the account tab
• Open “settings”
• Select “privacy” from the left menu options
• This opens a menu which you can personalize, but I would recommend “friends only” on everything in order to ensure that this information is not viewable by any one outside of your friend network.
• Within the privacy section, you can edit privacy shortcuts, your activity, as well as how people can find and contact you. Each of these areas has additional privacy settings that can be customized.
• Additionally, within the “profile and tagging” menu under settings (on the left side menu), you can adjust who can post and tag on your page, in order to prevent unplanned sharing on your page.
• It’s also a good practice to ensure that your profile picture captures you appropriately.

By taking these steps above, a job seeker would prevent oversharing during a standard job search. Our individual ideas about how we use social media varies from person to person. While some people never share anything personal online, others don’t have a filter and share everything. When we are searching for employment and putting our best professional foot forward, it’s important to be mindful of the limited perspective that a new employer has on our persona. A spontaneous post that conflicts with something said during an interview, a conflicting attitude about a corporate policy, or a strong opinion that competes with a corporate culture, gives room for doubt in the mind of a potential employer, and could potentially cause them to cast judgement and loose interest in you as a candidate.