Capitalista Careers
Is LinkedIn the New MySpace?
Ok, so, let’s talk about social media use while job hunting. Social media isn’t going anywhere, and neither is your need for employment. So, let’s find a way to make them fit together, shall we?
1. Don’t be creepy on LinkedIn. Having a current LinkedIn profile is almost a given in the job market. Everyone has one. And most employers check it. Let’s get one thing straight: LinkedIn is not for making friends, it’s for finding a job, researching a company, and reading articles about those two things. It is for networking. Think someone is cute? Check to see if they have a MySpace (and if they do and it’s active, reconsider). Leave LinkedIn to the searcher and the employer. Take the social out of this network. Keep your photo and content strictly professional.
2. Keep it clean, folks. Guess what? Future employers probably google you. Do you want them to see that photo of you on the mechanical bull circa spring break ’09? No, you don’t. We’ve had Facebook long enough to know this, people.
3. Keep your current work experiences to yourself. Did you fake sick? Keep it off your page. Do you hate your boss? You don’t want your new boss thinking you’re a boss-basher. Just keep that stuff to yourself. You also might want to keep your job hunting on the DL if your employer is still in the dark. You’re always just one mutual friend away from an awkward situation.
4. Make your wall private. “You are what you post” is the new “you are what you eat.” Keep your posts, shares, and friends’ comments private. Do you want to look like a hot mess? Of course not. At least not in front of your prospective employers.
Happy hunting!
xo The Capitalista
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Alexandra Saville (@CapitalistaBlog) is the Media and Writing Specialist at Law Street Media. She has experience in the publishing and marketing worlds and started her own publishing company right out of college. Her blogs, The Capitalista and Capitalista Careers, focus on the young and the entrepreneurial.
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