The 7 Biggest Social Media Mistakes You Can Make During Your Job Search

Social media can be an incredibly valuable tool for you professionally, either for networking or in a job search. It can also derail your best and most professional efforts by giving a potential employer the wrong impression of you at the worst possible time with these 7 biggest social media mistakes. Here are 7 common social media mistakes you should avoid.

1. Inappropriate photos

Easiest step: make all of your photos private. More nuanced step: go through and take down any pictures of you high, or partying, or wielding a gun, or wearing an offensive t-shirt, or making an obscene gesture, etc. Sit down with your profile and try to view it as if you were a very conservative professional recruiter. If you cringe, take it down. If it’s even just iffy, take it down.

2. Discrimination

No matter what your personal views, never ever ever post things which discriminate against any person or group on the basis of sex, gender, color, religion, etc., etc. No one will hire you if they think you’re a bigot.

3. Badmouthing your current employer

“Ugh work today sucks #fml” (or equivalent). If a recruiter sees you complaining about your job, your coworkers, or your boss… forget about it. Save those complaints for happy hour with your out-of-work friends.

4. Posting during work hours

This might seem nit-picky, but recruiters might look at the time stamps of your posts. If you’re posting during work hours, they’ll take note. Stick to after hours and weekends for your social media sharing.

5. Being a social media ghost

Conversely, recruiters might just be plain weirded out if you don’t have any social media presence. At very least, make sure you have a LinkedIn profile that’s searchable and recognizable as yours.

6. Friending your interviewers

Just because your interviewer is being super friendly and you have tons in common, resist the temptation to follow or friend them. This crosses unwritten boundaries and can make people super uncomfortable. Wait until you get the job.

7. Rehashing your interview online

Once you’ve had your interview, resist the urge to post about how well/awful/catastrophic/fantastically it went. Chances are, they’ll see it and it won’t reflect favorably on you.