Your social media presence could potentially affect your job search and your job. Click here to read an earlier post about social media and job hunting. Cybervetting is using the internet, social media, search engines, and any information found on the internet to “vet” or evaluate a person. Most often, cybervetting has less to do with the skills of the applicant and more about their moral and personal beliefs. Cybervetting can be a form of bias and discrimination against the applicant. It opens up opportunities for opinion and judgment against the person being investigated. Living online runs the risk of missed opportunities by those in the position to deny you opportunities.
Many people display their lives very publicly. They post pictures and videos participating in protests and civil unrest. Sometimes, applicants post public media involving drug use or sexually explicit pictures or video. In public, anyone can take your picture without your consent. We are in the era of living life online and camera phones are everywhere. The news media is capturing as much as possible. As a result, individuals are being doxed and all their private information becomes public knowledge. Many are discovering how the internet can affect their work and their private lives.
Employers are watching and have access to the same social media content as the public. The HR Personnel, hiring managers, and background investigators, and even law enforcement agencies are users of the same social media providers as you’re using. Some outright ask for your profile names. They may try to friend you or follow you. The hiring manager may not believe black lives matter. They may disagree with your display of social justice protest. That hiring manager may not like twerking or your political views. Consequently, they decide to pursue someone more socially or morally acceptable to them.
Therefore, beware of what you display on your social media accounts. The words, videos, and pictures posted online has caused repercussions to many who have portrayed negative actions and opinions. For example, some individuals have very publicly been fired from their positions. Others are quietly not interviewed, hired, or given the opportunity to defend their social media accounts. Employers will simply move on to another applicant whose image they like and prefer.