Social media - the case for and against
Used constructively, social media can improve your career prospects. However, it’s just as likely to damage them.
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Social media - a force for good
You can use social media to showcase the positive aspects of your life and creative output. For example:
Instagram: share a photo of a current project, such as a website, design work or presentation.
TikTok: post a light-hearted video of you and a friend practising your interview skills or clips from one of your drama performances.
X: comment positively on an interesting innovation or share academic resources you’ve recently discovered.
LinkedIn: post about career events, insight days etc. that you’ve attended.
Social media - a force for evil
Employers will conduct background checks. This may includes looking at a prospective candidate’s social media accounts. Companies often use specialist software (e.g. Social Media Check by IRIS) to conduct these checks. These tools can quickly scan vast amounts of public data, including posts, comments, photos and videos. If they unearth anything untoward, they will withdraw job offers, remove candidates from shortlists etc.
Discriminatory or hateful content.
Excessive negativity about previous employers.
Unprofessional photos.
Evidence of illegal activities.
Managing your online profile
There’s an old adage: “If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all". Try sticking to this when you post anything on social media. Aside from this, you can:
Delete: Review your old posts, and delete anything inappropriate.
Privacy: Review your privacy settings on each account and set these to “maximum privacy”. What this looks like varies from platform to platform.
Connections: If you get a connect request from someone you don’t know, carefully read their profile/message before connecting.
Google: Type your name into a search engine. If anything comes up that’s inappropriate, act to remove it.
Update: Make sure all information is up-to-date and consistent across your social media accounts.
Pseudonym: If you have an uncommon name, ideally you shouldn’t use this on your social media accounts (aside from LinkedIn). Using a pseudonym is usually a better option.
Nuclear: When you review your social media accounts, you may find that you have far too many skeletons in the cupboard. If that’s the case, consider deleting that account permanently.
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