As most of you are getting ready to graduate in a few short months, it is time to start thinking about your personal brand, especially when it comes to your online presence. Read this article and share your thoughts on what your profiles say about you. Do you think they will impact your career and job search? What should you do or not do when it comes to sharing your life online?
My social media profiles are pretty well-managed. Social Media and I kind of grew up together, and this unique experience was aided by lots of precautions. Danger! The Internet is scary - if people aren't using it to try and hurt you, whatever you do online will be fossilized forever in digital history. So, I learned to be cautious.
ReplyDeleteWith all of that in mind, not a whole lot comes up when I google my name. Uh oh. I still have a lot of brand building to do. I definitely think that in the Advertising field especially your online presence is so important. I want to provide examples and easy access to my website to showcase my skills and personality.
I can't really say what effect if any my personal brand says about me. I deleted my Facebook account 3-4 years ago, and so I do not even think the information there is publicly accessible except by people who already had access to the information (and archived it). I have no other social media accounts that I use, nor any website where my full name is publicly revealed. I have always, though, followed the rule of being careful about never revealing anything overly personal about my life online. Or at least, not publicly online.
ReplyDeleteI think that my online profiles are not an accurate representation of me. Even though I have attempted to start cleaning them up, future employers can still find things that are deleted. Once something is posted on the internet it is there forever. Unfortunately I started using Facebook in the 8th grade and never filtered anything I wanted to say via twitter. I am hoping that whoever does research on my social media sites, sees my profile as a positive thing. They will be able to get a feel for my personality and sense humor and hopefully not focus on how unprofessional and candid my profiles are.
ReplyDeleteLiz DeGroot:
ReplyDeleteI feel that having a presence online is beneficial for everyone, especially in the communications field. However, having the right presence is just as important. Having a positive aura around social media is key to impressing potential employers and keeping jobs. By posting images with excessive partying and illegal activities such as underage drinking and smoking can be a major turn off for the job force. Employers have access to profiles regardless of privacy settings. Although photos containing or suggesting inappropriate behavior may seem like a good idea to college students now, in the long run these photos and posts may be the deciding factor from keeping an individual from the job.
In the last several years, I have become more self conscious about what I share on social media, and how I am representing myself online. I am very careful about what I post and to where, and I make sure that my privacy settings are up to my personal standards. I think my profiles represent who I am as a person, and I have seen far worse content posted by adults who are actively working in their chosen industries. That being said, I do need to set aside time to clean out old photos from Facebook, as I've had my account since my freshmen year of high school. Some one those photos still make me cringe, and no one else should be subjected to that. I don't think my social media presence will negatively impact my career or job search, as my Google search of my name did not turn up much at all. If anything, I think it will show that I am self-aware when it comes to my online presence, and that it will be beneficial to me in the long run.
ReplyDeleteWow!, this is a tough issue. I am not sure what the best approach to this would be considering what your prospective employer can find out about you can be good and bad. I have a good friend who worked security for Blackwater in Iraq and now does PI and security work locally. He personally limits all his media exposure and even drives a car that he choose specially because it does not draw attention to himself. His opinion is that as little as possible should be made available about yourself on these forums. The problem with that approach is that a potential employer would also be unable to view any favorable things. The other option is to go ahead and participate in social media and not post anything that would be considered obviously objectionable. The problem with this is that there is a lot of gray area when doing this. Should you avoid addressing anything about race, religion, or socio-economic issues because a potential employer's opinion of them might be different from yours? Although, this might mean the difference between appearing generic and boring or engaging and thought provoking. This is a difficult subject that may have no definite answer.
ReplyDeleteMost of my social media profiles are private, except for Pinterest. I use social media periodically but it is not something that I typically indulge in. I am not one to post albums of photos or excessive Instagram photos so my profiles do not say much about me. A lot of my photos include my travel photos or appropriate photos with friends. I do not think my profiles will negatively impact my career or job search, but there are things I could do to improve my profile. In the future, I would like to post more positive content and photos that give me a more positive image. Right now my profiles do not say much about me. I do not share much about my life on the internet because of all of the negative stories I have heard and I like to maintain some privacy.
ReplyDeleteI know how important our social media can be. They reflect our image and the things we like, and I don’t have a doubt that social media and help or be a problem to get any job. Companies will search and make sure the candidate fits in the company’s profile. I think you shouldn’t post anything inappropriate in our social media, like the article said “nothing that we wouldn’t like our grandmother to see”. Drinking, partying or something like that should be avoided. It is also important to share relevant interests, like sports, music, arts and etc, so the company can have a overview of our personality.
ReplyDeleteMonique Cordeiro
I have limited social media accounts. I recently just got back on Facebook but it is very restricted to view from the public and friends. When you google my name my Facebook doesn't even come up when you search me on google. My Twitter, Linkedin and google account. There is also random websites that weirdly known my home address, home phone number, my parents, and other relatives. Images on google there is just one photo of me an what looks like images of friends on other social media accounts. I do not believe that any of this information on google or what is visible from my social media accounts will effect my career. Theres not enough information out there to really make a executive decision. I limit the information I post out online. I recently did a project about finding out what my image was perceived as on the web and I did not kind anything bad. There is general information that I am willing to tell any job I would be applying for. I think being very careful what you put out there is the key to maintaining you image. One simple post or image could make or break you.
ReplyDeleteI have googled my own name in the past and when I did most of what showed up we're only images I've posted as avatars for my social media accounts such as Linked In, Twitter and sometimes Facebook. Also, pictures of myself that other people have posted we're shown and I don't like that. The pictures on my Facebook go way back to when I was in middle school, which is definitely something I would consider deleting because it could greatly hurt my personal brand during my job search.
ReplyDeleteAs for other social media outlets such as Twitter, Tumblr and LinkedIn I feel comfortable with what I show and do not show. You should never share too much information about yourself especially thoughts that can be portrayed negatively towards some people. Even though I know the consequences of posting certain things on social media regarding the way it can make you look, the article about online presence was entirely eye opening and even a little bit scary.
Most of my online profiles have very few pictures of myself on them, since I always make sure to delete any unflattering photos. My Facebook is mostly used for my promotional work and sharing funny pictures, so there isn't much incriminating content on there. My public Instagram is 90% concert videos with a few artsy photos thrown in, so that won't hurt my job search. I have thought about making a private Instagram for my pictures of friends and I doing typical 21-year old stuff, however I probably will just keep those photos on a flashdrive. Overall, the only thing I'd have to worry about is the stuff I posted back in high school, but I've already begun deleting those,
ReplyDeleteYes it will definitely impact your career. As stated in the article, employers have access to different social media outlets in order to learn a little more about the person they're considering for that particular job. What you post on social media helps define who you are. Therefore, I'm mindful of the things I post. I believe that you should keep you personal feelings and emotions to yourself (political and religious views for example). If you're out with friends and you're getting drunk, keep that within the group and off social media! It might cost you your next job.
ReplyDeleteMy LinkedIn is professional obviously and I try not to add friends, I rather use it networking because Facebook is meant for adding "friends". However, we can talk about my Facebook since I don't really use Twitter. My Instagram is mostly pictures of my dog so that one is safe too and private. My profile pictures on Facebook are always appropriate. If I get tagged in a photo, that I wouldn't want my mother or a professional seeing, I will untag myself or ask it to be taken down. I am pretty responsible on social media for the most part. I am sure I have had some slips for when I was way younger. I am in the film world, so people are not often checking my social media for the first three internships I have had. Definitely something to watch out for and keep track of. I don't see a huge impact, a lot of the jobs I go for do not even ask for a resume. Very much word of mouth so I need to be careful of how people see me (make sure I don't mouth off or anything, which I don't). I keep everything on private.
ReplyDeleteLuckily, most of google is consumed by an artist, a rockstar, and a doctor if you google search Matthew Curry. I believe I have a lack of information on google because my Facebook isn't actually under my traditional name. I use my middle name as a last name to deter or slow down these searches. I also do not post anything that would come off in any kind of a negative manner. I understood at a young age thanks to my older siblings, that if you want to get a job one day, you can not have a negative social media outreach. I check my social media regularly, the only thing that would leave me susceptible on social platforms is Snapchat. Which prides itself on privacy after 10 seconds, but we all know that is not true, and will one day bite us all in the butt.
ReplyDeleteI strongly agree that your personal profiles can tell employers a lot about you, even if that's not your intention. So many times I've heard employers and professors warn students about the negative affects our social media platforms can have on us in the workforce. Being an active member of a sorority for the past four years it has been instilled in me that you must always uphold the values and standards of our chapter in y our everyday life. Luckily, that along with a strong moral compass has allowed me to keep my social media clean and professional for the real world. In today's world uncovering secrets of your past via social media is extremely easy, so I urge those looking for careers one day to put their best foot forward both in person and behind the computer screen.
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