Social Networking Sites - What's On Your Profile?
By Kevin Buckley, CPC

Many people are discovering the benefits of joining social networking sites including Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.

Employers are increasingly aware of these sites and are checking the online profiles of people who may have social networking accounts to get a sense of what potential candidates write about themselves, their interests, philosophies, and their interactions with family and peers. When an important hiring decision is imminent, employers use all tools at their disposal to ensure that they are making the best informed hiring decision possible.

Keep this in mind when adding content to your online profile. There are privacy options that some of these sites have which restrict viewers of your full profile to those whom you grant the privilege of free access.

Some people like to be very open in their comments about their work, their social activities and other interests, submitting pictures and entering information that could, if accessible to the casual viewer, cause some employers to hesitate to continue discussions of a serious nature about a job opportunity with them.

Items To Include In Your Profile:

- Educational achievements, awards, recognitions, prizes, scholarships,
  promotions, affiliations, associations, charity works, pictures of company
  events

Items To Exclude From Your Profile:

- Any form of online ranting or negative commentary about past or present
employers, a work history that does not match the resume you submitted,
photos showing immature tendencies or acts, questionable comments
about race, religion, and the ethnic origins of others, and any other offensive
online material.

If you are actively seeking a job, expect that an employer may choose to view your profile as part of the pre-selection process, and ensure that there is nothing there that could be detrimental to your chances or create a negative impression of you, your personality, ethics, and character.

Your profile is how you appear to the business community at large, colleagues, and superiors. Choose your profile photo carefully. The best photos are portrait shots that show your eyes and a welcoming smile.

Scrubbing your Social Media Content:

There are services that offer to clean up your social media profile/s. One of the best recognized of these services is sociaclean: http://socioclean.com which is noted by leading organizations such as Time, CNN, and CBS News.

Through careful monitoring of your social media, you avoid being blindsided by inappropriate content you've posted.

Site Reviews - provides a ranking of various social media sites.