Social media can injure job prospects

In 2010, CEO Paul Furiga’s downtown Pittsburgh public relations firm was hiring interns. When Furiga decided to look over his potential future employees’ social media profiles, the last thing he expected to find was an unhidden album of explicit photos.

A male friend of one of the firm’s female internship applicants had posted a collection of photos full of “so-and-so’s chest,” as Furiga described it, and the intern-to-be was unaware that those candids even existed on her page.

“We hired her, but we did have a conversation with her about it,” Furiga, the CEO and president of downtown PR firm WordWrite Communications, said.

Not everyone will get that lucky.

Before the explosion of cyberspace, employers once relied on the carefully chosen references listed on a candidate’s paper resumé in order to gain further insight on the applicant. But today, with the click of a mouse, employers can find out all — and sometimes more — than they need to know about a prospective employee. According to an April 2012 survey conducted by CareerBuilder, 37 percent of companies check out the social media sites belonging to applicants, and the content employers discover could earn or lose someone the interview.

As the saying goes, first impressions are, in fact, everything. The study showed that the largest percentage of employers (65 percent) delve into social media in order to judge whether or not a potential candidate projects a professional image.

For employers such as Dennis Piper, owner of Pittsburgh accounting firm Dennis Piper and Associates, a professional image above all is of utmost importance for a candidate’s online appearance. This means that those drunken photos from a bar in the South Side will have to hit the recycling bin, or at least be reserved for the bedroom rather than virtual wall. Piper estimates that 10 to 15 percent of his initial evaluation of candidates depends on their social media presence, while 85 percent of their chances still rest on their resumés.

“I’m looking at it as ‘What image are you presenting out there [on Facebook]?’ I can’t even imagine why people do half those things on Facebook or Twitter — it baffles me.”

Piper, a member of an older generation, describes himself as a “private individual.” Unfortunately, discretion on the Internet can be a challenge for today’s young and incoming workforce, especially when most of them have been operating on social media sites since about the ninth grade. But for Piper, broadcasting excess personal information onto a social network is code word for a lack of adequate time spent on other valuable activities such as studying and applying one’s self.

“If you want to tell the world that you were at the beach, that’s fine. I don’t like the concept, but that’s my prejudice,” he said. “Do something constructive besides put useless crap on Facebook or LinkedIn. That reflects upon you, your work ethic and your social values.”

While the interview is often the time for candidates to present the most positive image of themselves, hiring managers like to search social media to get a glimpse of candidates in their natural habitats. According to the CareerBuilder research, social media snooping is used by 51 percent of employers to assess whether a candidate would fit in with the corporate culture, 45 percent to discover more about the candidate’s skills and 35 percent to determine if the candidate is well-rounded.

Additionally, employers report turnoffs they encounter when reviewing job candidates online. In ranking order, they include: provocative photos or information, information about drinking or drugs, poor communication skills, back talk about a previous employer, discriminatory remarks and lies about qualifications.

Furiga said he especially determines the quality of someone’s communication skills by reading their tweets. He finds that college applicants often either have their Twitters unnecessarily locked or converse about juvenile topics.

“Crazy hashtags, blonde girl problems, sorority girl problems, FML this … A lot of profanity, a lot of really personal stuff like live tweeting during TV shows that people like, about stupid things [like] party stuff,” he mentions. “That’s the area that I see a lot of issues these days.”

The most unimpressive Twitter page would look something like a private network for friends: a following of 15 people and a mass of 8000 tweets, according to Furiga.

“You don’t really have anything to say to the world at large,” he said. “You are talking to each other every single second of every single day about things that nobody cares about. Those people, we don’t interview.”

Ashley Moss, owner of Hello Productions, an event planning and public relations firm, gets her first glimpse of a potential employee’s appearance through a Google search. She deems photos that include risque clothing and extreme situations of either making gestures or falling to the ground as an automatic red flag. But, somewhat unlike Piper, she finds photos of candidates on the beach in a bikini tolerable, given that the lack of fabric is at least weather appropriate.

Furthermore, “if they’re drinking wine with their friends, and they’re the legal age, that’s fine,” Moss said.

Social media is not always vindictive. When used properly, it can embellish a candidate’s credentials. According to CareerBuilder, 29 percent of employers have said, “You’re hired,” as a result of a social media site. The most frequently cited reasons include quality insight on personality, professional image, variety of interests, superb communication skills and positive references from other people.

Furiga said he appreciates Twitter pages that offer interesting and not strictly personal tweets, engagement with followers and conversation that sheds light on significant beliefs and opinions.

“If somebody wants to be in medicine, I would expect to see some content of things that interest them about their field,” he said.

Piper uses social media as a resource to confirm a candidate’s resumé, and he is most impressed by attractive and organized pages that might even provide him with some talking points if he decides to follow up on an interview.

But not all employers use social media as an investigative tool.

According to Mary Beth Allen, campus recruiter at Ernst and Young, the company does not utilize social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter as vehicles to identify and source candidates. Rather, the company’s presence on these sites is designed to create a page where candidates can reach out to them and learn about the firm around the clock. Additionally, Allen noted that Ernst and Young does use LinkedIn as a means to connect with potential recruits.

For those students whose Facebooks have already celebrated multiple birthdays, doing away with the old photos and posts can seem like a daunting task. Applications like SimpleWash save students a step as they apply for internships and jobs by scanning Facebook pages for language that is unfit for an employer’s eye. Other services such as Socioclean aim to make Facebooks in tip-top shape.

Piper offers the following maxim for advice: “The spouting whale gets harpooned.” In other words, the more you decorate your social media page, the greater risk you run of endangering your employment prospects. Choose wisely.