I am sorry to break it to you and I know its going to hurt to hear this, but deleting your social network accounts is one of the best moves you can make when looking for a job. It is not a secret that employers are now checking out their candidates on social networks such as Facebook, Myspace, and all the other social networks out there.
There are actually companies out there that will not hire you if you have a social network profile. For example my mother is a teach and has been for almost 15 years. At both school districts she has worked in if you were caught having a Facebook you could be fired. I also have a good friend that works in a well know marking firm in the Human Resources department and they are told to look for candidate’s social network accounts. If the candidate’s social networking profile is distasteful in any way they will not hire that person regardless of how well impressed they were with that candidate’s resume and interview.
I know you are thinking to yourself, Awe I got this, I can just block everything so that only my friends can see it. Sorry buddy its not that simple. There are ways around everything. I happen to have a Facebook page myself and I too block everything so that only my selected friends can see my content. Well, I just Googled myself and lots of information came up about me along with some pictures. I even saw some stuff from my old Myspace account that had deleted over 3 years ago. Its scary!
I know that most of you are not going to want to delete you social network profiles and I really cannot blame you but please think twice before posting those questionable pictures, wall post, comments, and profile questions. Its also a very good idea to monitor your friend’s content as well. If they are posting questionable stuff on their profile’s it might be a good idea to delete them. You do not want potential employers to judge you off of your friend’s profiles. It is very possible that all of that stuff could come back to haunt you one day!
