BE WARY OF SOCIAL MEDIA
Roger Gilpin, of executive search company Gilpin, explains how to make sure your ‘digital footprint’ doesn’t cost you your dream job:
DIGITAL tools are providing recruiters with more information about candidates.
Information on your CV or application form is only a small part of what they can learn about you. That’s right, they’re looking at Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, and maybe even your friends’ pages, to build a full picture.
When seeking a new position, altering privacy settings on social media should be the first thing you do.
Making your Twitter profile private puts you in full control of who can see your content and who can ‘follow’ you.
Facebook privacy settings are more complex and have more variables than on Twitter. You can restrict content to ‘friends of friends’ or just ‘friends’. Consider enabling the approving mechanism.
If you choose to keep your social profiles public, pay particular attention to the tone used in posts, and of course, spelling and grammar.
With a reported four in 10 job seekers finding their perfect job through professional connections on social media tools, such as LinkedIn, the impact of your ‘digital footprint’ cannot be underestimated or ignored.