Being Digitally Approachable in Your Job Search

 Job searches rely on making lots of great first impressions. And once upon a time you could control your first impressions, by actually being there when they happened. It may surprise you to learn that, a long, long time ago (back when I was 40), humans introduced themselves to one another in person. Face to face, not on Facebook or Facetime.

Those days are long gone.

Today, job seekers make most of their first impressions online. You can’t get through a dinner out with friends without someone pulling out a smart phone to look something up. When I recommend a restaurant, or movie, or a beer, where do you go to check it out? You go online. In the office, when you mention you are looking for a solution to an IT problem, and I recommend my IT vendor, what do you do? Do you leap to the phone to call them … or do you check them out online first?

When you Google your own name, what do you see? There is your first impression. Google is the new business card.

Every time someone refers a candidate to me, I check them out online. If they are on the hunt for their next position, I assume they paid some attention to their digital first impression. And I’m often disappointed.

If you are a business professional about my age, and your LinkedIn profile is bare bones, you are sending the message that you are behind the curve with technology. It is assumed that you either don’t understand it, or perhaps you are afraid of it. Like it or not, that’s your first impression, and it is darn hard to shake. The fact that you have not yet found social media relevant to your work, or that you find it a silly waste of time only confirms the suspicion.  You may think that not having a robust online profile confirms that you are a mature, secure, serious professional who has no time to waste on YouTwitFace. But among people who use Google to form a first impression, rest assured, that’s not what they think.

Conversely, if you are an early career business professional, and your LinkedIn profile is bare bones, it is assumed that you know your way around social networks because you are young, so the absence of a professional profile means you are either lazy or perhaps you just don’t understand how things work in the real world. Not good.

So if your current job is quite secure, and if you have no interest in being contacted about a new job, then by all means, feel free to remain digitally anonymous. Put out a big old “Beware of Dog” sign online. No problemo.

But if you are even thinking of making a first impression with someone who is in a position to help you, like an HR professional, or a headhunter, or someone who is well networked … well then, you would be wise to make yourself more digitally approachable.

What to do if a Job Interviewer asks for Your Facebook Password

A new controversy has the business world a-buzz. It has to do with Facebook, and the fact that some employers are asking prospective employees for their Facebook passwords.

Megan Garber, writing for The Atlantic, reports that “Apparently, for the 95 percent of employers who use social media sites to glean information about job candidates, the intelligence available for public perusal is no longer enough. Prospective employers now want to see inside your profiles.”

A Maryland man who was forced to reveal his Facebook password during an interview with the state’s Department of Corrections has sued, and the ACLU will be arguing on his behalf. And then there’s the New York statistician who walked out of an interview after he was asked to provide his Facebook password. These cases aren’t mere anomalies, notes Garber. This is happening more and more frequently.

The practice is being met with outrage and widespread disapproval. “It’s akin to requiring someone’s house keys,” says George Washington University law professor Orin Kerr. (NOTE:  Facebook has since changed its policies.)

The fact that some companies feel free to ask for passwords demonstrates how deep the divide can be between people’s conceptions of online privacy:  Garber notes that common standards about what’s acceptable and what’s not when it comes to online privacy have yet to solidify in the social environment that Facebook and other networks provide.

“Employers are asking for applicant passwords — in part — because those applicants have availed themselves of social media sites’ privacy features,” writes Garber. Savvy interviewees have made their profiles viewable only to friends and family; employers, who have gotten used to social media recon as an integral aspect of the hiring process, are looking for ways to reclaim the insights those profiles can provide.”

The problem has become widespread enough that lawmakers are proposing legislation to fight against it. In Maryland, House Bill 364 (pdf), proposed in January 2012, would prevent employers from discriminating against job applicants who refuse to provide access to their social media profiles. In Illinois, House Bill 3782, introduced in early March 2012, would do the same. Protections like these, if they’re passed into law, will likely prove important — not just for job-seekers and their online connections, but for the everyday privacy standards that are solidifying as Facebook and its fellow networks make their way from an innovation to a way of life.

Thanks to Facebook’s policy change you now have an easy answer if anyone ever asks for your Facebook password: “I’m sorry, that would violate my user agreement.” And then, we recommend that you seriously reconsider whether you would want to work anywhere that would even ask.

Read More Here!

Could Facebook help more in a job search than Linkedin?

Linkedin is a professional network. Facebook is a social network. So which will get you your next job? Turns out, they both can!

Bryce Christiansen from Balanced WorkLife brings us an interesting perspective on how Facebook can be more useful than Linkedin for landing a great job. Bryce gives lots of ways that Facebook can help, even if your security settings are Private.

Here are some of the highlights:

• It’s more engaging. Businesses can create a page, entice users to it, and then communicate with anyone who stops by.
• More users. Facebook has over 800 million active users; Linkedin only has 120 million… And, most update Facebook far more frequently.
• Ads you want. Businesses are paying for targeted ads to Facebook users who match the profile.

Check out the article if you want to learn what Facebook habits you should adapt to have it land you a job.

Don’t Post your Birthday or Hometown on Facebook

Social Media is supposed to be personal: a way for former, current and future friends to find, greet and meet you. But Shirley George Frazier warns that we may be giving away too much information. She says that posting your hometown and birth date on your social media sites is dangerous! It gives outside sources a way to access your social security number and easily steal your identity! So delete it.

I’m going right this second to check my sites and delete my info….

Is Your Facebook Appropriate?

A recent study by Harris Interactive shows that at least 45% of HR professionals are using social media sites to check on their potential hires before hiring. 35% said their findings had caused them to turn down the candidate. Thanks to Damian Rojas, of idaconcpts.com, we now know why. Here are just a few of the reasons HR professionals turned down potential hires:

• Provocative, inappropriate photos on Facebook
• Speaking of excessive drinking or drug use
• Discriminatory comments towards specific races or religions
• Sharing of confidential information from a previous position

10 Ways to Keep Your Facebook Safe

Facebook is a fun way to connect with friends, meet people, network, and share photos. But there are dangers that many users don’t know about. Luckily, we can all learn from experienced IT professional Mahendra Palsule about how to keep our Facebook pages safe. These are serious!! He lists 10 safety tips; here are 4 I didn’t know about before:

• Organize Our Friends – You can create Friend Lists to organize your acquaintances into groups. I think I’ll make groups for Family, High School friends, College Friends, and Co-Workers… How? “Select Friends from the top menu, and use the Create link to create friend lists”.
• Privacy Settings – You can customize the settings for everyone, or for particular people. So that kid that stalked you in College… make it so he can only see a small amount of your profile! How? Go to: Settings > Privacy Settings > Profile
• Choose Who Sees What – When you do something on Facebook, like comment on a friend’s photo or push the “Like” (thumbs up) button, it appears in the News Feed of all of your friends. But if you go to Privacy > News Feed and Wall, you can customize what certain people see.
• Don’t Be Used for Advertising – Facebook claims it does not give your information to 3^rd parties. But change your settings to block it if they ever decide to change their rule. It will take 2 seconds but might save you in the future. I’m going to do it right after I finish this post. How? Privacy > News Feed and Wall > Facebook Ads.

5 Reasons to Have a Photo on Your Social Media

Personally, I love photography so I don’t understand why anyone wouldn’t have a profile picture on all their social media sites! But (aside from being fun) it’s important for business, and especially job seeking! Vincent Chaigneau says you MUST add a picture to all your social media sites, for 5 reasons. Here are my 3 favorites:

• Social Media is supposed to be social. People are supposed to be more approachable; willing to converse, talk, meet and become acquainted. So don’t put up your company logo – it blocks people off from connecting with you.
• A photo helps people trust you. It might sound silly, but it’s true. People without a picture make Chaigneau wonder if it’s really who it says it is, or if it’s an identify thief. Just put a picture so people believe you are who your profile says you are.
• Having the same photo on all your sites helps people to recognize you. They think: Oh! That cool guy Bob Corlett that I follow on Twitter is the same one who writes that awesome blog!