I'm doing some recruiting at work at the moment and it must be my curious nature but every time I receive an application, my first step after going through the CV and cover letter is to check the applicant social media profiles.
From the guy dressed up as a Mexican, drinking straight glasses of Tequila for his Nek Nomination (yep, he obviously forgot to put the video in private), to the girl who had clearly artistic but half naked pictures of herself on Instagram, I had my fair share of surprises, and a great laugh in the process.
What I will say though, is that what I find about candidates is usually not taken against them and doesn't necessarily influence my decision (and I'm not the only one making it anyway!).
I often wondered if employers looked me up on Google when I was looking for a job. Did they find my blog? Did they read it? The subject never came up in interviews so I guess will never know...
I blog in my own name and don't use a pseudonym, even when I comment on other blogs, so I have to make sure I can own up to what I write. I'm proud of my blog, I think it shows a positive (most of the time) image of myself and the country I live in.
So the question really is "How much personal information are you willing to make public?"
In my case, I would say I'm careful about what I publish, but most importantly, I'm not ashamed of anything I've written (for now!) and if someone doesn't like it, tough!
What do you think? How do you manage your online presence?
