Let's tackle a topic you might not often see in print: social-media protocol concerning the employer-employee relationship.
You have applied for a job with Company X. You go to LinkedIn to learn who works there. You receive a phone call from in-house recruiter X to set up an interview. Should you invite the recruiter to connect with you before the interview? Afterward? And when you learn the hiring official's name, should you invite him or her to connect? If so, when?
Resist that temptation to connect, including after your interview. What do you hope to gain by asking to connect? How would you feel if you were the employer? It's a blatant suck-up maneuver, a reach to say the least. Wait until you've landed the job.
It's fair game for you to research your interviewer. Look for connections you might have in common. Perhaps reach out to those connections for a glimpse into the interviewer's personality. Learn where the person worked, where he or she attended school, etc.
When it comes to LinkedIn, beware of what your public profile displays to connections and nonconnections. Specifically, if you're employed and looking around, it's often embarrassing to display groups, especially when half of them are job-seeking groups. Hide them all, or at least hide the job-seeking groups so no one can see them.
Facebook recently turned 8 years old. What began as a means for college students to communicate has become a corporate goliath with countless millions of us engaged with it to varying degrees.
Savvy employers look you up on LinkedIn and Facebook. All the accomplishments and personality displayed during an interview can be wiped out by a bad online impression. Sure, you've heard about removing incriminating pictures, but there are other Facebook topics to consider.
Should you friend your co-workers or your boss? With rare exception, the answer is no. The risk-reward factor doesn't benefit you. I've heard stories about employees who have called in sick, only to have their employer see pictures of them at a ballgame or other event.
We see our co-workers more hours a week than we see our family in many cases. Why further blur the line between our work and personal lives?
More and more cases involving an employee's online words or photos (and resulting termination) have made their way into our court system. What used to be private conversation now becomes a digital "paper trail." Griping about the boss? Whether by email, text or online rant, that comment has the chance to be seen by the wrong people. Is it worth losing your job and possibly jeopardizing your financial security?
Here's something else that should make you think twice about online venting. Even in a "closed" Facebook group, your comment can be part of a screen shot emailed by another group member to your boss. So what's thought to be "private" has become the opposite. Good luck keeping your job after that gets out.
The bottom line becomes this: If it's something you wouldn't say while sober and in person, don't say it online. And be careful with whom you connect and friend. Social media has become part of the fabric of today's society. Embrace it, but do so wisely and make it work for you, not against you. Good luck!
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