Your Social Media Profile Could Be Holding You Back

According to published data, 2019 will see over 7.4 million Facebook users between the ages of 25 and 35 years old, in the United Kingdom alone!

As this represents the most popular age group for job seekers who are either changing or starting out on their chosen career paths, it isn't surprising that their Social Media profile impacts more upon their employment prospects than they may currently realise.

Indeed, whatever our age group, employers and prospective employers now have more opportunity than ever before to research our personal lifestyles before making the commitment to make that final job offer and, whilst we would like our private life to remain private, it is unavoidable that our on-line persona may influence a relative stranger when it comes to trusting us to represent their Company.

Whilst it may be true that your caring, health conscious and fulfilling lifestyle, as portrayed on-line, could convince a prospective boss that you have led the blameless and wholesome life that he or she would be proud to have aboard, there are a great many more 'personal' webpages that could torpedo your job prospects, even if your interview was faultless.

Monster.co.uk has reported that 'Googling' candidates during the hiring process is a common practice and The Recruiting Times finds that 36 per cent of applications are 'binned' after social media profiles are checked.

Whilst it is also true that some employees may re-think their application after checking an employers website, the impact upon firms is far less than it could be upon job seekers.

What this emphasises, according to Andy Sumner of Monster, is that employers are looking for a 'good cultural fit'. This certainly cannot be understood from the CV alone but, increasingly, employers are finding that face-to-face interviews may also not tell the full story.

So, if you tend to be an avid party goer and frequent social media user, the best advice Anne Jagger Recruitment can offer before starting out on that job search would probably be to check your current 'privacy' settings!