Did you know that in as little as 10 minutes of browsing through your Facebook profile that an interested person can predict how you’ll perform in the workplace? Yes, this concept was recently presented in a new study published in the Journal of Applied Social Psychology. Therefore, it’s a fact of life today as Facebook gains more importance in the recruitment process that more and more employers are reviewing Facebook profiles when screening potential new hires. Some employment agencies are actually offering this service to employers, calling it social media screening. Moreover, a Jobvite study shows that more than 22 million Americans used social networks to find their most recent position and a total of 18.4 million Americans, have credited Facebook as the source that led to their current job.

No differently than you would expect from a live social engagement it’s of paramount importance to understand that when it comes to social media … there is no second chance to make a good impression and more so your digital impression may last a lifetime. If your profile isn’t set in privacy mode, you must make sure to present yourself on Facebook in the most employable light even though you may not be seeking employment at this time.  Even your current employer, customers, and vendors may be looking into who you are and how you behave socially.With that in mind, here are some tips for using Facebook to advance your career:

1. Strategically build your profile to support your professional expertise and resume.  Remember, you are developing your Personal Brand.
2. Search and like companies and pages of interest. Always include, along with the companies you are interested in following, recruitment firms and recruiters from your industry.
3. Manage your status updates wisely and keep a positive attitude. As the Journal of Applied Social Psychology states “a Facebook profile uncovers: conscientiousness, extraversion, emotional stability, agreeableness, and openness to new experiences”. Consider all these when you post news, interact with friends or acquaintances and share photos. Build upon your professional expertise by posting professionally related content; statistics, studies, industry leaders’ opinions but also your well thought through opinion to demonstrate your subject matter expertise to potential employers.
4. 4.      Manage your status updates accordingly by taking advantage of the different privacy settings.
5. Don’t mix personal and professional relationships, it can be confusing and time consuming. Add professional networking applications to your Facebook profile such as: Beknown,BranchOut and Glassdoor.com. Beknown, an application developed by Monster, helps you construct your network, keeps your profile public, and assists you in making valuable introductions. BranchOut has over 3 million jobs and 20,000 internship postings and Glassdoor.com offers remuneration details and employer reviews.
6. Make the best of the new Facebook “Timeline” feature. Start by choosing privacy settings for your old status updates and decide with whom you want to share your content. Then choose a background image that represents your values, achievements or interests.

Social media has created a new model for human interaction and meeting the right people has never been so easy. With the ever increasing number of social networks feeding off of each other, the possibilities are exponentially increasing for an innocent oversight to become a permanent part of your professional profile and personal brand image. Google plus, another growing platform to be considered in the recruitment and job searching process, will be discussed in Part 3 on this subject - coming soon.

Until then, if you are an IT professional looking for positions in Cloud Computing, CRM, Energy IT, Healthcare IT, or the hottest Mobile development technologies, check out our career section and contact us for career advice. We look forward to hearing from you!