Sunday, October 30, 2011

TMI: Think Before You Tweet About Your Job Interviews

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 or Tweet that you are interviewing at a particular company.  Why?


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
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