With the
rise of social media, it is now easier than ever for an employer to search for
you online. Facebook is meant to be a social platform, however be aware that
employers could be looking at your profile to verify the content of your CV, or
to get a ‘true’ insight into your personality and behaviour. Here are a few
things to consider about your Facebook profile.
- Is the information on your Facebook profile 100 % correct? Avoid any information on your Facebook profile that appears to contradict your CV. In particular ensure that any dates of your schools and universities appear correctly – anything that is misleading could make the employer (wrongly) think you are lying.
- Will the employer find you or someone else? Type your full name in a search engine with the word Facebook. Do you appear in the results or someone you would rather not share a name with? You might consider adding your middle name on both your CV and Facebook so the employer finds you and not someone else, or adding your university or school to help them find you.
- Is there anything damaging your reputation on Facebook? Assume that nothing on Facebook is ever private - so if you have any photos or posts which could be considered offensive or inappropriate you should untag yourself, and even better - delete them! Be particularly wary about posts about your previous work or colleagues, jokes or comments that could be taken the wrong way, or photos portraying you in a negative light.
- What image do you give to an employer? Imagine being the employer. You would be reassured to find pictures of the candidate graduating from university, taking part in sports or volunteer work, participating in work events. Think about the pages you have chosen to ‘like’ or are a ‘fan’ of – it might not be a bad idea to reconsider any ‘poor’ choices.
Facebook
privacy settings
When it
comes to the question of Facebook privacy you have two options - either you
keep it more open, and use your Facebook to highlight your personal and
professional strengths, or you keep it as a social platform and lock down your
privacy settings. The choice is yours – but for a guide to making your Facebook
private – see below.
Check the
privacy settings of your photo albums. To change the privacy settings of your
photo albums go through each one individually and select ‘Friends only’. Bear
in mind that your Cover photos and your Profile pictures are always public, so
if there’s anything you don’t want an employer to see you should delete it from
these albums.
Options
> Privacy settings.
1. ‘Who can
see my stuff?’ For ‘Who can see my future posts?’ - select ‘Friends’ or
‘Custom’. ‘Limit the audience for posts you’ve shared with friends of friends
or public?’ This will change anything that was public or shared with friends of
friends to be visible just to your friends. ‘Review all things you are tagged
in’ will take you to the Activity Log, allowing you to review everything that
will appear on your Timeline and things you’re tagged in.
2. ‘Public
search’. ‘Do you want other search engines to link to your Timeline?’ Bear in
mind that if you have selected ‘yes’, your online reputation via Facebook will
be far more accessible.
On the left
sidebar, click ‘Timeline and tagging’
3. ‘Review
posts friends tag you in before they appear on your timeline?’ This option
allows you to see any photos and posts before they are allowed on your Facebook
Timeline, (but it doesn’t make it stop appearing elsewhere on Facebook). This
option though is very important as it allows you to see things on Facebook
before everyone else sees it on your Timeline.
On the left
sidebar, click ‘Security’
4. Improve
the security of your Facebook account. The last thing you want is someone
hacking into your Facebook account. Click on ‘security’ > ‘enable secure
browsing’ - meaning that Facebook will use “https” – a secure communications
protocol - whenever possible. You can also activate ‘Login Approvals’, meaning
to enter Facebook from a different computer or mobile device you’ll have to
enter a code from your mobile phone.
Remember
that the privacy settings of Facebook could be updated at any time, so it is up
to you to check regularly what your Facebook profile looks like to a potential
employer. Use wisely and you’ll have nothing to regret.
Read more:
- Read about how to control your Facebook privacy
- Download the guide From Facebook to LinkedIn
Source:
EURES - The European
Job Mobility Portal
