“Look after your personal brand” seems to be these past few years’ mantra when it comes to matching employability to your online presence. But what do recruiters actually look for on social media?
After almost 80 per cent of employers has admitted to have Googled candidates, it’s becoming increasingly important to have a good online reputation. Futureboard’s staff makes a point out of being Internet savvy: everyone here uses social media to headhunt the best graduates and students in the market.
When it comes to Twitter, Futureboard consultant Megan Nee has a code of good and bad behaviour. She says: “I love it when students and graduates have a good, informative bio, like, ‘Final year Electronical Engineering student, loves Tech’. And it’s great to see that candidates follow a lot of companies and tweet regularly.”
Megan says she expects technology candidates to be very active on social media: “It would make them look quite bad if they were applying for a tech role without having tweeted in two years!”
People who swear and rant on Twitter are on Megan’s social media black book.
Joanne Keilt, Consultant at Futureboard, agrees: “I don’t like negative people on social media. If you’re so negative online then I don’t want to work with you!”
Megan adds: “When I see a lot of swear words on a person’s account I imagine they would not be pleasant to work with.”
As for LinkedIn, the Futureboard staff has high expectations from candidates: professional pictures, updated profiles and the like. Megan says: “While on Twitter people don’t expect to be headhunted and considered as job applicant, LinkedIn has a much more professional audience.”
She adds: “We tell candidates to share on LinkedIn as much information about themselves as they would put on their CV. The first question we ask ourselves when we look for their profile is, ‘Are they taking it professionally?’”
When it comes to Facebook, Megan says for legal reasons companies shouldn’t look up candidates, because from Facebook you can easily find out their sexual preferences, social background and the like. She adds: “However, some companies do sometimes search to see if the candidate fits in with the team.”
As for blogs, Joanne says candidates should follow the same policy as when writing their hobbies on their CVs: “Put links to your blogs and profiles only if you’re happy to talk about them and for them to be seen. They can shine a very good light on you if they’re polished, but if their ethics and image are questionable they can cost you the job.”
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