Emmanuel [not his real name] had nailed the job already. He had gone through three stages of oral interviews, and he was successful. At that point, the list of qualified 35 applicants had narrowed down to two, but only one was needed.
According to Emmanuel, the odds were in his favour until, the head of the recruitment team decided to check their online presence. “That is where I missed it” he said.
When the name of the other contestant was ‘googled’, many links showed up; a good number of them contained his achievement in his field – marketing, whereas when Emmanuel’s name was ‘googled’ there was really nothing, except his Facebook profile.
But that was not all the trouble.
Emmanuel lost the job, and he was told that it was because his web personality didn’t fit the status they wanted for the marketing manager of their company. A member of the recruitment team, told him, informally that problem was that his Facebook posts did not in any way suggest that he can organise and lead the marketing team of a big corporation.
His, was a job, yours might be different.
“Mind what you post on Facebook!” It can make or mar you. Your reputation now goes beyond what you do or say, your association on the Internet is now a large part of it.
So, before you add or confirm that friend on Facebook, pause and think, “Will this person on my friends list add to or subtract from my personal brand?” Before you post that article, comment, or like that thing, think, “Will this hurt me or help me?”
The Internet is growing and the trend is irreversible. In the near future, success and failure will have direct link to the way you align yourself on the web.
But the piece of advice is that Facebook and other social media platforms are no longer for informal chit chats only. Whatever you do, make sure you are not throwing dirt on your career path.
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