Here is the sixth column in the weekly Tuesday feature “WHEN YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP: How to Use Social Media to Get Your Dream Job” by Yael K. Miller and Phyllis Zimbler Miller, co-founders of the social media marketing company Miller Mosaic Power Marketing.
Yael and Phyllis are writing about the FICTIONAL CHARACTER Amy H., who will be a senior this fall at the University of Pennsylvania, majoring in English. Find all the posts in this series, organized for your convenience, here.
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Amy H. has started blogging on a WordPress site set up for her by a web person. The site has basic search engine optimization and Amy is committed to adding original content three times a week.
Now she reads Chapter 6 – “Making Sure Your Facebook Profile Presents a Professional Image” in the ebook “WHEN YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP: How to Use Social Media to Get Your Dream Job.”
Amy loves Facebook – she constantly checks Facebook to see what her friends are up to. But she’s never used it for professional purposes.
And she has heard that she should be careful what she posts. But she doesn’t worry about this because she’s sure only her friends can see what she’s up to.
Then Amy reads the below warning in the ebook:
WARNING: Even though you think only your closest friends can see what you posted, because Facebook is constantly changing its privacy controls, you may unknowingly be sharing all your activities with the world – including prospective employers.
Does this mean Amy can never share with her friends the fun she’s having? The ebook says that’s not true. Just be careful; don’t talk about getting drunk or high even as a joke on Facebook.
If someone brings up an embarrassing story about you getting drunk or high, remove those comments and privately ask your friend not to share those kinds of stories about you on Facebook or anywhere online.
When having a picture of yourself taken at a party, make sure you’re not holding a drink in your hands.
The homework assignment for this week is to revisit your Facebook profile page and look at everything on it from the perspective of how a prospective employer might view what you’ve shared.
Of course, the first thing to check is your profile photo. This should be the same headshot you are using on LinkedIn and other online sites.
Use all those laid-back photos of you at the beach or having fun with your friends as additional photos in Facebook photo albums.
Then check everything else to ensure that you are presenting a professional image if a prospective employer were to see the items.
Identity theft tip: Only publicly share your birth month and date but not your year. (See privacy controls to remove the year if you’ve shared this publicly.)
Phyllis and Yael hope you’ll sign up for new post notifications here at ebranding.me through the RSS feed or email. Then do the ebook assignments for yourself so you’re ready for next week.
And leave comments below if you have any questions on the material in this blog series “WHEN YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP: How to Use Social Media to Get Your Dream Job.”
(c) 2010 Miller Mosaic, LLC
Yael K. Miller and Phyllis Zimbler Miller are the co-founders of the social media marketing company Miller Mosaic Power Marketing. Get the free tips booklet HOW TO USE SOCIAL MEDIA TO INCREASE YOUR BUSINESS (also good for personal branding) at the company’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/powermarketing – and for information on the Miller Mosaic social media monthly mentorship program see http://budurl.com/joinmmic
