Don’t make the mistake of thinking that employers’ knowledge of you hinges solely on your CV or cover letter! Recruiters routinely scour the internet and social media platforms to gain insights into potential hires beyond what they submit in the job application. Maintaining a professional online presence is key if you want to protect your image as an ideal candidate.
An unprofessional online image can lead employers to question a candidate's judgment, values, and suitability for the role, and could often result in outright rejection. Inappropriate or controversial content, such as risqué photos, problematic rants, or polarising views on sensitive topics can significantly damage your chances of getting hired.
Proper digital footprint management goes a long way in ensuring that you protect the online image you portray as a candidate. Here are some tips on how you can check and manage yours.
What is a Professional Online Presence?
The rule of thumb is that you should come across online as someone an employer could reasonably put in front of a client/customer and not make the company look bad.
This doesn’t mean you have to completely sterilize your online presence – you do still have room to showcase your personality and interests! However, you need to make sure that whatever you post online doesn’t compromise that professional image. (Or at the very least, can’t be traced back to you!)
You should always assume that employers will check your social media profiles or other mentions of you online. Some do this themselves, while others contract professional analysts to run background checks on all incoming hires. Recruiters simply want to feel confident they are making the right choice, and you need to make sure you uphold that confidence.
First, Check Your Own Online Presence
Use a computer, device, or browser that is not signed into your accounts. That way, you can see what other people see when they search for you online.
Search for your name and look at all the profiles, photos, posts, and comments that come up. Imagine you are looking at the online presence of a total stranger. What kind of impression do you get? Do you come across as someone who projects a clean, friendly image and knows what is or isn’t appropriate to say publicly?
Online Red Flags to Watch Out for
If you’re unsure what counts as inappropriate content online, here are a few common red flags:
- Inappropriate or risqué photos that show things like alcohol use, drug use, scantily-dressed people, or risky behavior. Anything that makes you seem like someone who parties a bit too much is generally not a good idea. Employers want to hire responsible, professional people - not party animals.
- Negative or unprofessional posts where you complain or express bitter thoughts. It is generally unwise to publicly vent your frustrations online under your real name. People have lost job opportunities over posts like: "I hate my boss. This job sucks", "Sexual harassment rules are stupid", "Everyone lies on their CV anyway", or “Climate change isn’t real.”
- Controversial topics related to politics or religion can also be risky online. Remember, the hiring manager may have very different beliefs than you. Being vocal about your beliefs isn’t a bad thing in and of itself. The problem is when you portray an image of being unable to compromise or hold space for beliefs that don’t match with yours. Best to steer clear entirely.
Cleaning Up Your Online Image
Once you’ve gotten a better idea of your digital footprint, you may need to do a bit of housekeeping. Here are a few things to check to ensure that you are only publicly showing what you want to show.
- Untag yourself from any embarrassing or unprofessional photos others have posted online.
- Delete any irresponsible tweets, status updates, comments, or blog posts you may have made in the past.
- Tighten your privacy settings so only your friends and personal connections can see most of your social media activity.
- Some people even create accounts under a different name for personal use, so strangers cannot find those accounts at all. You can also create an anonymous account for personal use too.
- Vet your list of online connections and unfollow accounts where necessary to ensure your audiences don’t overlap. Since many employers encourage jobseekers to follow or like their company social media content at campus events/job fairs, you may have more prying eyes in your mutuals than you might think!
Be warned: even with all these precautions, be very careful what you post publicly. If someone takes a screenshot and spreads it around online, that content will live on in infamy no matter what you do.
If You Have No Social Media
You might also decide the easiest way to have a clean online presence is not using social media at all. Whether this is a good approach depends on your career field:
- For jobs with no social media requirements - like nursing, auditing, or backend operations work - having no online presence may be just fine.
- For tech jobs or design jobs, most employers will expect you to understand and use social media. Not having accounts could seem out of touch.
- For careers involving marketing, sales, community outreach, or public promotion, you need to show the ability to use social media to engage with people effectively.
- If you are in a job that requires a lot of networking, most professionals have a LinkedIn account for contacts to connect with. That’s the bare minimum that you should have.
