Smile, You’re on Facebook
Posted September 9th, 2013
Social media has become an important recruiting tool for employers, as is well known. And for that reason, career counselors advise current and potential job seekers to watch what kind of content and graphics they put on social media sites such as Facebook.
You want to make sure you appear professional, putting your best foot forward, goes the conventional wisdom. Avoid pictures that are offbeat or off-color. For example, you never want to be seen partying excessively, because company recruiters will see that and immediately dismiss you as a serious candidate.
But now some recent research is coming to light, showing that this conventional wisdom may need to be revised. When companies see people with a beer in their hand, they immediately make assumptions about their professionalism and character. But these assumptions, it turns out, are false.
The research has shown that there is very little connection between professionalism, character and pictures with people holding a beer. In other words, a Facebook picture of someone with a beer in his or her hand has virtually no predictive value of whether this person is conscientious and responsible. In fact, someone with such a picture on his or her Facebook page may be very conscientious and responsible. And companies may be losing out on some very good people if the company crosses these folks off its list because of such a picture.
Moreover, companies looking for socially outgoing, gregarious people – for sales or marketing positions – are really shooting themselves in the foot by ignoring these candidates.
However, the study did find one connection between Facebook content and character. People who consistently criticized or insulted other people on their Facebook page where more likely to not be very conscientious or responsible workers.
About 175 people participated in the study. Researchers tested the subjects for the character traits that companies look for, such as conscientiousness, responsibility, sociability, etc. and then compared what they found to their Facebook pages, enabling the researchers to see which traits were connected to what particular Facebook content.
Still, it will remain wise for the foreseeable future for individuals to be very careful regarding what they put on their social media sites. There are still some hiring managers for whom any sign of drinking or foolish carousing is a big red flag, so it’s a good idea to keep the photos of you with your pals and the brewskis stored elsewhere.
If looking for work in the Bay Area, send your resume to us here at Bayside Solutions. We can help you find temporary, temp-to-hire and even direct-hire positions with some of the area’s top employers. If you are looking for employment agencies in Pleasanton CA, we are always here to help.
