Be careful what you post online, career counselors warn
NEW YORK (Reuters) People concerned about their careers should be extra careful about what they post on the Internet during a recession, career counselors say. Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, blogs and other venues present numerous opportunities to sabotage your hunt for a job or promotion at a time when employers can afford to be picky. “With social media, you can be vapid, boring and annoying with alarming frequency,” Patricia Vaccarino, owner of a Seattle public relations firm, warned clients in a newsletter. Vaccarino said many of her Facebook friends have posted “in great detail about their colonoscopies, dead teeth pulled, dead dogs, flatulence, adult acne, marital breakups, battles with mental illnesses and drinking problems.” If this information can make friends cringe, she added, imagine the impression it would make on a potential employer.
Vaccarino is the poor decision maker here for outing her “friends” very personal struggles.
Facebook has Privacy Controls …. You have many options on this topic
1. Let everyone view your profile,
2. Let only friends view your profile which Vaccarino’s friends probably had activated until she outed to the world they are a majority of them suffer from alcoholism or mental handicaps,(for someone who works at a PR Firm she should’ve known better )
3. Make your profile private to all….
Maybe would have been a better / informative article Yes Facebook allows this….No one online would even know your account existed. Friends like Vaccarino could not look you up and then have a national interview and an employer would never know you went out drinking because your dog died, got in a fight and lost a tooth,showed up to work hung over, and crapped your pants. Yes Facebook has this option .
If someone has a profile promoting illegal acts ( real Crime )on their Facebook as an employee of an employer I would prefer that they not be hired. As an employee I say let them keep posting their Pit bulls, Drug Money, crack Buy Cocaine Online and Guns (more often found on MYSPACE which is outdated and littered with teenagers vs. professionals). The less guns and crack in the pocket of the guy next to me the better my workday will go. Professionals, young adults, and people with careers use Facebook and Linked In. Maybe this article was aimed at teenagers looking for jobs at Supermarkets or Fast Food Restaurants. If so those kids from Dominoes with the YouTube Video are going to have a tough time finding another job, but do you really want them working in a restaurant making your salad?
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