Picture
Facebook and think of what you use it for. Does the word resume come to mind? Had
I asked myself this a week ago, that would have probably been one of the last
things to pop into my head. Facebook to me is where you go to look at pictures
from the weekend or of trips friends have taken, where you keep up with what is
going on with the people around you, and where you check in on those you love.
This is the last sort of place I would want any potential employer looking into
me knowing some unprofessional pictures that I have on my profile are certainly
not what they are looking for. So why would the term resume consider even
coming near this site?
Well, a Facebook
page for instance is very much different than your Facebook profile. One can
have a profile where they share all those personal things in their life not
meant for the work place but yet have a page where they can present themselves
in a whole different manner. A profile can be secured against an employer’s
eyes whereas a page can be on full public view, presented in a way one would be
very proud to let any potential employer look at. It is like a business card but
in much greater detail. With social media gaining more momentum in today’s
world, it is easy to forget who one’s audience is. Presenting yourself in a
certain way, using explicit language, and showing off inappropriate photos is
generally not just limited to being shown to the friends on that site; it is
easy enough for anyone to Google you and see for themselves or even go onto
your profile if it is not secure. The image portrayed on a social media site
may perhaps not be how you want an employer to see you as, however if they can
access it, nothing is stopping them from seeing your personal photos and
details. One article even states
that employers are willing to do this.
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| Photo of my Facebook page |
Personally,
I know that what I have on my profile is not exactly something I want someone
who is going to hire me to see. Creating a Facebook page puts me out there in a
professional way. Any job I apply to that happens to look me up on the web
would find this, my Facebook page
that outlines me just as a resume would do and already I have given myself a
good image to this employer. Even more so, someone looking to hire may just
stumble upon my page and end up offering me a job opportunity. I created my
Facebook page as my own personal resume. This is a place to go to get to know
me better, in a professional way, which could improve my potential career opportunities.
I’m not saying that Facebook is bad or what people are putting up on Facebook
is bad, generally, but that some things are meant for work and others simply
are not.
Check out
more about Facebook on Tanya’s blog!
Hey Tanya,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that putting your resume on Facebook is a great means of finding potential employers. As social media becomes more widespread, Facebook and Twitter are great tools of promoting businesses, or promoting yourself. I never knew that employers would go out of the way to look up my Facebook profile. Like yourself, there are many things on my profile that I would HATE for my potential employers to see-pictures, statuses, etc. I think electronic resumes are more impersonal than applying in person, but I agree that it can broaden many horizons, and in the technological age we live in, internet has become the tool for everything.
I think it is interesting how you say that it is so easy for us to forget who our audience is. It is so true! Even just with my Facebook profile, I will put up an album from a vacation or someone's birthday then have to kind of think "okay..my uncle and younger cousins are going to be seeing this, am I okay with that?" Sometimes I have to think twice about it! It is a bit scary knowing that I wholeheartedly post bits and pieces of my life onto this social media site, where potentially anyone could access it with the right software. This makes creating a Facebook page for professional purposes ideal. Most people are so used to everything being online so simply googling my name to get a quick reference of what I'm about (professionally) works well since it saves a lot of people a lot of time and energy. Facebook is a bit like the real world..there is a time and a place for work and a time and a place for play; like you said neither one of these are negative. I think it's great that Facebook has allowed there to be barriers set between what we want to be represented as in the work force, and to our friends and family.
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