A couple of weeks ago, a Human Resources person took me aside
after an etiquette seminar and asked me to make sure I tell people that “asking
to connect with an interviewer on LinkedIn right after an interview is
considered pushy.”
Her statement got me thinking. In today’s world, social media has
become an integral part of any job search. My son got his first professional
position by responding to a LinkedIn job posting. I have gotten clients from
Twitter. Yet social media hasn’t been around long enough for people to
understand fully how easy it is to make career-limiting blunders with their
posts/tweets/requests.
In
addition to the above misstep on LinkedIn, in which the job seeker put the
interviewer in the uncomfortable position of accepting or ignoring someone who
hadn't yet been hired, avoid these 6 mistakes when using social media
during your job search:
1. Posting interview details on Facebook. Keep your
interview life private. Your friends only need to know that you are looking for
work or have gotten a new job. If you announce on Facebook how wonderful your
interview was with a particular company, you may have to announce the following
week that you didn’t get the job. Ouch. Plus, other people now know
there is an opening at that company, and they may apply.
2. Not checking your equipment before interviewing
remotely. One young man didn’t realize that the sound was not working on
his Skype connection until
his interview began. After an awkward few moments of trying to get the sound
working, he had to do the interview on the phone, and felt embarrassed
throughout the conversation. Additional information about conducting meetings
via Skype can be found in my new book, The Essentials of Business Etiquette.
3. Not keeping your social media sites appropriate
throughout your entire job search. You will be checked out by
prospective employers. People generally clean up their sites before they start
a search, but often forget to keep them suitably professional throughout their
search. It is very easy to post thoughtless comments and
later realize that what you've posted isn't something you would
want a prospective employer to see. The
best way to avoid this mistake is to keep your sites professionally appropriate
at all times.
4. Tweeting comments about an interview.
This mistake is similar to number one, but Twitter allows you to engage
with people you know as well as those you don’t know, quickly and
succinctly. Most companies check
their Twitter feed to see any comments made about
them. A now-famous example of an inappropriate tweet after an interview came
from a woman who tweeted: "Cisco just offered me a job! Now I have
to weigh the utility of a fatty paycheck against the daily commute to San Jose
and hating the work.”
5. Not looking like your photograph on any of your social
media sites. One woman was told by a recruiter that the company with whom
she had just interviewed had felt deceived. In her LinkedIn profile she
looked like a polished professional. She showed up for
her interview in casual, disheveled clothing and with a messy hairstyle,
looking very different from her photograph.
6. Using YouTube to quit your previous job. When you
do land a new job, make sure you leave your current position in a respectful
manner. Some people have recorded their creative resignations on video and
uploaded them to YouTube. Very occasionally, this approach may work, but before
you do anything so dramatic, make sure you aren’t burning any bridges. Remember, online is forever. Read
more about quitting on YouTube in this linked Business Insider article.
Pachter & Associates provides career, business
etiquette and communications training and coaching. For more information, contact Joyce Hoff at joyce@pachter.com or 856.751.6141.
