Spring Break
Column: PRomote Yourself: Keeping your Facebook clean, employers happy
Tricia Heitzman
Issue date: 3/27/09 Section: Editorial/Opinion
03/27/09 - Last semester the Public Relations Society provided you with advice about resume writing, interviewing and following up after the interview. However, there are many less-conventional methods of making yourself a prime job candidate.
Get connected!
The Internet is a huge resource, and you can find a lot of information about anyone by just typing a name into Google. Most importantly, you can control the information about yourself on the Internet.
Start with your Facebook profile: do you want your potential employers browsing your profile as it is now? If not, change it.
Many people use their profiles to keep up with new and old friends and try to give off a "fun and carefree" image, one that employers may not like to see their workers portray to the world.
I know when I was a freshman and sophomore I did not care about that because I was not looking for a job or an internship at that time.
But newsflash: once something is posted, it will never go away.
Even if you delete old pictures, videos or postings, they are always somewhere in cyberspace, and your future employers can find them.
Some people keep their profiles set to "private" to keep others from seeing their dirty secrets. The varying levels of privacy settings that most users know they can set are not as foolproof as they seem. Many companies have codes that can override these settings, letting them see everything on your Facebook page.
The best way to keep your information safe is to not post anything too personal and to steer clear of photos with any noticeable alcohol consumption.
You can also use Facebook to show good qualities about yourself and make potential employers want to meet you.
Write about your good qualities and show what groups and positions you have held during your time in college. Post pictures while volunteering with your sorority or taking an agency tour with a group you are in, post notes about trips you have taken and post pictures of you and your friends having a good time-- without looking like a crazy party animal.
If you use it to its fullest potential, Facebook can almost be used as a mini-resume.
Basically, use your Facebook profile to promote yourself on how you want others to see you.
You can be looked at as a typical partying college student or as someone who likes to have a good time, but also has a good head on his or her shoulders.
You get to decide.
You can have the pictures of you with friends having fun, but you do not need the shots of all of you dancing on the bar.
Depending on what career path you are pursuing, you can tailor this advice to fit your needs, but in general it is important to monitor your profile.
Get connected!
The Internet is a huge resource, and you can find a lot of information about anyone by just typing a name into Google. Most importantly, you can control the information about yourself on the Internet.
Start with your Facebook profile: do you want your potential employers browsing your profile as it is now? If not, change it.
Many people use their profiles to keep up with new and old friends and try to give off a "fun and carefree" image, one that employers may not like to see their workers portray to the world.
I know when I was a freshman and sophomore I did not care about that because I was not looking for a job or an internship at that time.
But newsflash: once something is posted, it will never go away.
Even if you delete old pictures, videos or postings, they are always somewhere in cyberspace, and your future employers can find them.
Some people keep their profiles set to "private" to keep others from seeing their dirty secrets. The varying levels of privacy settings that most users know they can set are not as foolproof as they seem. Many companies have codes that can override these settings, letting them see everything on your Facebook page.
The best way to keep your information safe is to not post anything too personal and to steer clear of photos with any noticeable alcohol consumption.
You can also use Facebook to show good qualities about yourself and make potential employers want to meet you.
Write about your good qualities and show what groups and positions you have held during your time in college. Post pictures while volunteering with your sorority or taking an agency tour with a group you are in, post notes about trips you have taken and post pictures of you and your friends having a good time-- without looking like a crazy party animal.
If you use it to its fullest potential, Facebook can almost be used as a mini-resume.
Basically, use your Facebook profile to promote yourself on how you want others to see you.
You can be looked at as a typical partying college student or as someone who likes to have a good time, but also has a good head on his or her shoulders.
You get to decide.
You can have the pictures of you with friends having fun, but you do not need the shots of all of you dancing on the bar.
Depending on what career path you are pursuing, you can tailor this advice to fit your needs, but in general it is important to monitor your profile.
