Are you the bait to your click?

Your dream job is within reach — now don’t let social media scupper it
The rules of the real world are different, and whether we approve or not, they often call the shots on our virtual lives. Good, bad or ugly — as we paint a picture of ourselves online, there are other people of interest watching and keeping track of our online identity, forming impressions that may not altogether be an accurate portrayal of who we really are. While this may not be a subject of concern in our personal lives, no matter where we are placed in the corporate world, an adverse assessment of our personalities could become an issue, especially if we are looking to get a leg-up career-wise.

The fact is we use social media in our work and personal lives more than ever before, but we are surprisingly lax about our online footprint. More of us mix our professional and private lives on social media, with some among us having colleagues as pals on nonprofessional networks. A sizeable number among us also don’t put more care into our pictures on professional platforms, compared with personal social networks.


As a growing number of employers now check candidates out online, job seekers at all levels need to be more careful about their virtual presence. To help you make the right impression, here are some elementary social media etiquette tips, as shared by LinkedIn’s Darain Faraz.

Take care to make a good first impression

One of the first places employers head to check out potential candidates is online, so it’s important that your first impression makes the right impact.

Typically, you’ll only have five to 10 seconds to impress on professional networks. So make sure your headline and summary are engaging and represent your professional persona. Boost your chances of getting noticed by including an image. Profiles are 14 times more likely to be viewed if they have a photo. Just keep it professional.

Don’t broadcast your personal updates

Don’t forget that personal accounts can be visible to everyone (not just friends and family you’re connected with). It’s important to have some separation between your personal and professional identity online. So make sure the privacy settings on these accounts are switched on to maintain a healthy balance.

This will avoid harming your career prospects with any potential employers who may check your social accounts.

Be selective

You might get on well with the people you work with, but this doesn’t mean you have to connect with them across all your personal social channels.

Be selective about who you choose to do this with, as visibility across all your personal updates may be inappropriate for some of your colleagues. You never know who a future potential employer might be and you don’t want pictures from your Saturday night shared round the office.

The same goes for professional networks. It’s about quality, not quantity of connections. Remember, it’s not a popularity contest and just 50 trusted connections will start to make a big difference to your network.