By Randi Lewis
Employers have a laundry list of basic qualities they seek
in prospective employees. One obvious
quality is an ability to exercise good judgment. During the interview, interviewers use
different means to determine that basic quality. An ability to use good judgment in the use of
social media has become increasingly important to employers.
With that in mind, here is a tip for those of you who are
accustomed to “sharing all” on social media:
THINK BEFORE YOU
TWEET
You should know that most businesses employ services that notify
them by email whenever their business is mentioned on the internet. For example, check out Google Alerts, which
will notify you by email anytime a word of phrase you identify appears on the
internet. So, knowing that, you might
think twice before you check in at www.foursquare.com
Last month, a Chief Marketing Officer shared this
story. She receives notifications on her
email every time her company is mentioned on the internet. At a break during a Board of Directors
meeting, she checked her email and noticed an unusual reference to her
company. With a few clicks on her iPhone,
she determined that a person had “checked in” at her company on Twitter. So, the CMO emailed the Chief Recruiting
Officer, who called the Recruitment Manager.
The young man actually had innocently “checked in” on foursquare, which was then posted on his
Twitter page – something he does all the time – without thinking.
Within an hour of the time the interviewee had announced he
was interviewing at this company, the recruitment professionals had informed an
impression of him – correct or incorrect:
THIS CANDIDATE USED POOR JUDGMENT.
So, the next time you think only your friends see your
postings – think again. Particularly in
this job market, think twice before you announce you are interviewing on social
media.
Randi Lewis, Founder, Resume Boutique LLC
© Resume Boutique LLC 2011. All rights
reserved.
