Nearly all businesses (98%) do background research about job candidates online, and 80% say a personal website is important when evaluating candidates.
Most businesses have rejected a potential employee after looking at their social media profiles, according to a new survey from The Manifest, a business news and how-to website.
About 90% of employers look at potential employees’ social media profiles, and 79% have rejected a candidate based on what they found.
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Many people focus on building a professional brand on LinkedIn, but hiring managers also look at candidates’ personal social media profiles such as Facebook and Instagram.
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Social media content that can get candidates denied includes:
- Hate speech
- Images of heavy partying or drug use
- Illegal or illicit content
- Poor grammar
- Confidential or sensitive content about former employers
“If you come off as a supremely professional individual on LinkedIn, yet you have images of you partying on Facebook, that’s not going to go over so well,” said David Walter, hiring manager at Electrician Mentor.
Job seekers should make their public social media profiles consistent across channels — and set profiles that aren’t professional to private.
Nearly Every Business Conducts Background Research on Job Candidates
In a struggling economy, candidates should do all they can to stand out online. In addition to building an appropriate brand on social media, they should also optimize how their name appears on search results.
Ninety-eight percent (98%) of businesses do background research on applicants; 43% use Google to research employees.
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