Is Your Social Media Image Damaging Your First Impression?

Job Search – Take Control of Your First Impression – Social Media Image

Take Control of Your First Impression – Part Two: Your Social Media Image
Last week we discussed how your resume can impact your first impression. Today we will discuss social media and how it affects your presence, and how it can impact your first impression.

Social Media has taken the world by storm. Not only is it interesting and fun to use, but it keeps people connected. While there are positives to the use of social media, it has its downfalls as well. How you portray yourself on a social media platform can impact your first impression and success in landing a new opportunity. See below the following social media platforms and how you should approach utilizing/managing your image:

• LinkedIn: This social media platform is the most advantageous for any job search. Make sure all information on this page is detailed and accurate – do not leave any sections blank. Similar to your resume, have your experience and education listed with position titles, dates, and a brief description. Add a section to write about your interests to give it a personal feel – make sure your interests are appropriate and reflect well on your first impression. Lastly, your LinkedIn profile picture will say more about you than the entire page will. The picture should not be one of you at a nightclub, it should not be one of you dressed casually and it definitely should not be one of your pets. Just as important, leaving it blank can be detrimental. Your picture should be polished and professional. By having a picture that reflects poorly on you will indeed deter staffing specialists and potential employers away from connecting with you. Impress a staffing specialist or a potential employer by giving some thought and effort into your profile.   
• Facebook/Twitter: At the moment, this platform is not primarily used for job searching or finding candidates. However, staffing specialists and potential employers may decide to type your name into a search engine and find your name come up with either one of these social media platforms. When you create a Facebook page or a Twitter page, you are fundamentally allowing the world to view your personal space. Often, individuals write about their feelings, their opinions, and political stance. Everyone is entitled to what they want to say and how they want to say it as they are personal pages. On the flip side, when a staffing specialist or a potential employer views your pages, this can negatively skew their opinion of you and thereby leaving a lasting negative first impression. By limiting your subjectivity, managing your privacy settings on these pages is very important. Limiting your exposure and who can see your posts will greatly help you. Make sure your page is only meant for your friends and family to view. Never post about companies and your negative thoughts on them. If you enjoy posting and sharing your political views and know that they can be taken in a negative way, create an alias for yourself that cannot be linked back to you. In the end, both of these platforms are primarily used for leisure and therefore should be maintained only for certain audiences to view.

Your first impression will last a lifetime if it is negative. Maintaining and managing your social media pages will maximize the type of success you will have in your job search. Do not deter any potential staffing specialists or employers away from considering you because of things that can easily be resolved. Take some time to review your social media pages today and give yourself that positive lasting first impression!

Manraj is a Recruitment Consultant at Fusion Career Services, connect with Manraj at contact@fusioncareer.com or leave a comment below.