Social Media: The New Background Check

In the past, when you applied for a job, you more than likely had to agree to undergo a background check. This was to see if you had any type of trouble with the law other than the one you admitted to on your application. However, times have changed and there is a new background check that employers use. This one is less expensive and is easy to sign up for--it's called social media.

As a consumer, the technology boom has brought many unique and satisfying tools for communication into our lives, the fact that we can connect with friends and loved ones quite a distance away is still amazing, no matter how old it gets. But with every pro, there is a con. In this instance, the con of social media is it is your social resume. We have our professional ones that we upload or hand in, but social media is one we don't look at as a resume but in fact it very much is.

Social media is the resume that employers of today are interested in seeing. It's not that your professional one is not good enough, but social media really tells who you are as a person and how you conduct yourself when you are off the clock. While you are off the clock, you are free to do whatever you want. But, keep in mind if you are working for a big corporation or the government, it would be wise not to post anything offensive or tweet anything that you will regret later on down the line. Before you press that enter or send button, you should ask yourself that question.

We have to keep in mind that it is a hiring manager's job to find the best candidate to get the job done as well as represent the image of the company in the most respectful way. While you may have graduated with top honors and be tailor made for a specific position, what may be holding you back are the questionable things you post on your socialmedia account. What people don't realize is no one would know if you don't post it. You have the option of just keeping it to yourself or among friends, but in the "ME" generation we feel we should broadcast our every move.

It is the responsibility of all participants of social media to be cognizant of what they are putting out there for the world to see. This is especially true for high school and college students. Our future is still ahead of us and we want to give ourselves the best chance to succeed and not be held back by some dumb decision. That decision could affect us for a very long time and keep us from achieving a lot great things.

We may think sending that post or tweet out might make us the talk of the town, but in fact, it is severely damaging to our future.