Sunday, September 14, 2008

No Privacy On Facebook: 8 Tips for College Students & Other Job Seekers

By Randi Lewis
Facebook ~ A Means of Expression and Connection ~ But Who's Looking?
It's fun connecting with your friends on Facebook - sharing photos; videos; posting what you are doing and how you are feeling at a given moment. And, yes, there is a big BUT! But guess who is looking at your musings: POTENTIAL EMPLOYERS. Increasingly more employers are searching Facebook postings as reference tools. Facebook is becoming the third reference tool, a modern day adjunct to the Credit Report and the Criminal Background Check. Below are a few absolutes that you should consider well before you are looking for a job.
College students & younger professionals, read on.
  1. Carefully review everything posted on your Facebook page including postings by others.
  2. Remove postings by others that may be funny to you (inside jokes) but could be perceived as immature or unsophisticated by employers.
  3. Remove all photos and videos of yourself and others that are at all sexy or seductive (no low cut tops for girls; no bare chests for boys).
  4. Remove all photos and videos of yourself and others that show excessive partying or the use of alcohol.
  5. Remove all other photos and videos of yourself and others that depict anything that might offend your parents or their friends.
  6. Remove all content (words) that contain foul or unsophisticated language.
  7. Stop writing what you are doing or feeling at any moment (i.e., "Dave is hungover and not going to classes today"; or "This new Facebook layout sucks!").
  8. When in doubt, take it out!

Randi S. Lewis Founder, Resume Boutique LLC ~ 410.602.2500 http://www.resumeboutique.com/ ~ info@resumeboutique.com

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