Your Facebook page is preventing that interview…

As I begin to look into full-time jobs after graduation (May will be here way before I’m ready) I find myself checking newly added Facebook photos, as well as old ones from freshman year of college, to make sure they are appropriate. Ever since I created a MySpace account in high school my dad had been telling me to not put anything up that I wouldn’t want certain people to see, and all I thought was that he was the only person I didn’t want seeing my pictures!

Throughout my classes and while talking with professionals, I am realizing more and more how crucial it is to make sure the content on the internet could not sabotage my chance at getting a job after graduation. I was reading an article online that further verified what I was constantly being told. According to an article published by the New York Times entitled A Pair of Social Media Predicaments, a recent study reports that about 45 percent of employers questioned were using social networks to screen candidates which is more than double a report from earlier this year.

As much as I am annoyed that employers judging candidates based on their social profile, I also understand. I feel that people act different when out with friends than they do in the workplace, but employers are always thinking about the reputation of the company.

What I find difficult is deciding what is appropriate? and what is not?