Three Quick Checks of Social Media Accounts and Three Job Applicants in the “No, Thank You” Pile

I was inspired to write this article because of three similar incidents in a row this week. I had to sit for a couple of days to figure out what exactly to say to provide some value here.  In doing some social media checks on three candidates that presented quite well “on paper” (a technician, a project manager and a salesperson), I quickly found each to be too “high risk” for both my firm and my clients. From either foul language, a stream of inflammatory political posts to outright threatening or racist re-posts, I quickly moved to other candidates.  So, I wanted the title of this article to communicate two things. One is the message you have likely heard many times, to simply check those social media accounts to make sure you are giving the right impression of yourself online. Secondly, this is a message about how quickly (and maybe you would say, “unfairly,” someone like me will make judgments about you).

It should not come as a surprise that hiring companies and the recruiters that work directly or indirectly for those companies commonly do online research to see what pops up about an individual being considered for a job. Beyond the applications and resumes presented by a candidate, it is relatively easy to go online and take a look at what a person posts on social media. Countless articles have been written about this, it is commonly known, but so many people continue to shoot themselves in the foot with their online presence. Hopefully, I can highlight a few new things by being brutally honest here regarding not only candidates, but those of us labeled as “recruiters”, “search consultants” or “headhunters”. Five thoughts:

1.     If you are racist and/or full of hate, I am not here to help you. How is that for a punch in the face for the first thought? If you are one of these types, go ahead and post what you want to post, own it, and know that you are the one that is not welcome in most rooms. Thank you for making it really easy to “get to ‘no’ early”. No further advice for you here since I do not want you to hide who you are and possibly get on board with one of my clients. 

2.     “Search for yourself.” Go online and search for yourself, even though you may think you know what you have out there. You might be surprised. Check LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc., plus just punch in your name on Google (and Bing, and other search engines – they can produce different results). Look at “all” and look at “images” and see what pops up. Now, understand you might not be able to remove something you find, especially if it’s that old newspaper article from your hometown about you and your buddy crashing that tractor, but at least you’re aware of it and can try to get a laugh about being young and dumb in an interview. From another angle, and my own search of my own name, I have a relatively unique name (I think there are only five of us in the USA). That being said, one of us has been accused of trying to murder his family up in Alaska, so for me, when I found it, I said, “Well, that’s good to know!” So far, I have not had anyone confuse me with that guy.

3.     Manage your friends and family (and watch your “re-posts”). We are all too well aware of instances of people re-posting inappropriate things then either having to try to “pull it back” or giving the excuse that they “…didn’t know THAT was said in that video…”. If you re-post it, it is YOUR post. Almost every one of us has an old high school friend, a cousin, co-worker, etc. that will post questionable things, not check sources, or sometimes comment inappropriately on your own thoughtful and/or professional posts. Do what you have to do to “mute” them, remove comments, unfollow them, or go ahead and completely disconnect from them. Do not let some jackass take away from your “brand”.

4.     Sales professional to other sales professionals: “Pull the LinkedIn lever” for gosh sakes.  I think my Midwest roots are showing through when I say it like that.  I am especially quick to judge my peers, and if I can’t spot you on LinkedIn as a fellow sales professional, or if you’re many years into your career and have just a few dozen connections, it seems odd to me. It is a negative. In this case, it is not about what you post, it is about your image as an active and modern sales professional. I get it if you are busy and your sales results don’t necessarily depend on your online activity, or if you have no interest in the foreseeable future in finding another job, but why wouldn’t you be at least minimally active on LinkedIn? Allow yourself to be connected to people that might want to buy from you, work for you, get advice from you or just reach out for the favor to connect to someone else. Consider the non-profit opportunities as well, as you could find a volunteer board opportunity or have someone approach you to help with something you are already supporting. Opportunity will knock, but you have to give it a door. LinkedIn is an easy door to build, so just do it.

5.     Recruiters can be any combination of quick-to-judge, fast-paced, efficient, and/or lazy. But focused. When I have a valued client that needs an ideal candidate for an important role, I am going to do my best to find that individual. At the very same moment, I am looking for some other people for some other clients as well. It is no different for others in the search world, as we are all simply trying to match great people with what are hopefully great jobs and great companies. As a responsible businessperson, I have to find efficiencies, have good processes, and best practices, which means finding my way to “no” early. I HAVE to narrow that funnel down to the best few and waste no time with longshots.  I learned this as a salesperson, between an old boss enlightening me with, “Hope is not a business plan,” and simply learning to avoid any situation where I was crossing my fingers or trying to make something fit that was difficult to fit. The message here: Do not make it easy for me to take you out of consideration. Spell-check the resume, have thoughtful communication, and clean up your online presence. Do not count on me or any other recruiter to take the time to dig deeper or go beyond initial impressions on the fly. That second look may only happen days or weeks later if we have not been successful in finding that ideal candidate and have to circle back to the “B Group”. Like I said earlier, this is some brutal honesty. 

As a final thought, this is all about the impression of an individual that can be easily formed in less than two minutes. There is business risk for both a company and a recruiter when that individual joins a team. If a company has any indication that the individual may say or do inappropriate things on a job site while wearing a shirt with their company logo, it is not only the company’s reputation, but their direct revenues at risk. A company has the right to preserve their good name and their brand. As a recruiter, I am admittedly just as self-centered in this regard, as I will not risk my own business and client relationships if I see too many “red flags” with an individual. As always, I welcome comments and questions.