Employers looking at social media accounts when you apply for a job — Transcript

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1. 0:00All right, so if you're looking for a
2. 0:01job, you may want to consider sprucing
3. 0:03up your resume.
4. 0:04Yeah, smart. As the world goes more
5. 0:07digital, of course, so does your boss's
6. 0:08ability to track you, even your
7. 0:10potential employers. 7 Action News
8. 0:12reporter Matthew Smith is in the
9. 0:13newsroom this morning with more on this.
10. 0:14Now, Matt, it's hard to hide
11. 0:17online these days, right? Love the
12. 0:19spectacles.
13. 0:20Hey, thanks. I traded them in, got some
14. 0:21new ones. Yeah, it's hard to hide online
15. 0:24this day, but you can polish your look,
16. 0:26and I'm not talking about this Snapchat
17. 0:28filter. No, we're talking about how
18. 0:30companies are searching through all of
19. 0:32your digital footprint. We're talking
20. 0:33about everything. And while yeah, this
21. 0:35is goofy, this guy, that's me, hey, he's
22. 0:37still hireable. The thing is is when
23. 0:39you're thinking about social media, it's
24. 0:40not just about deleting things, it's
25. 0:41also about polishing up your look and
26. 0:43making sure you look your best for
27. 0:45potential employers.
28. 0:47I never post like a selfie like, you
29. 0:49know, doing a kissy face or anything
30. 0:50like that.
31. 0:51But you can make plenty of other
32. 0:52mistakes. By now, you likely know bosses
33. 0:54are checking your social media. A
34. 0:57CareerBuilder survey found that 70% of
35. 0:58employers do. What they're looking for
36. 1:00is simple.
37. 1:01Maybe drug use, inappropriate comments,
38. 1:04or illegal activity.
39. 1:06But it's not so easy to hide stuff. Some
40. 1:08employers may ask for passwords, though
41. 1:10rules vary state-by-state.
42. 1:12That is when the employer will have you
43. 1:14open up your social media account and
44. 1:17literally stand over your shoulder
45. 1:19checking out your page.
46. 1:20Um
47. 1:21I'm not comfortable with that.
48. 1:22While Janette Torres doesn't like that,
49. 1:24she and we should know if your would-be
50. 1:27bosses want, they'll find your
51. 1:29information. So, you can hide tagged
52. 1:31photos from friends, delete others, but
53. 1:33experts say, why not carefully craft the
54. 1:35image you want an employer to see?
55. 1:37For example, maybe you do a lot of
56. 1:39volunteer work.
57. 1:44So, one of the many things that you can
58. 1:46do is make sure that, well, basically,
59. 1:48you are getting rid of all the bad
60. 1:50stuff, but also accentuating the good
61. 1:52things. If maybe you are one of those
62. 1:54people that volunteers, all your profile
63. 1:56pictures could be things about you
64. 1:57volunteering. Go through the fine-tooth
65. 1:59comb. It's not just about hiding who you
66. 2:00are because you want to show who you are
67. 2:03as well. So, find the positives in you
68. 2:05and accentuate them online. Twitter,
69. 2:07Facebook, Instagram, they're finding
70. 2:09you. Believe me, they're finding you.
71. 2:11Just make sure that what they find is
72. 2:13what you want them to find. We're live
73. 2:15in the newsroom this morning. Matthew
74. 2:16Smith, 7 Action News.
75. 2:19Great advice, Matt. Useful stuff.
76. 2:21Yeah, hey Matt, I'm going to have you go
77. 2:22through my social media accounts in just
78. 2:23a little bit to help, you know, give me
79. 2:24a little bit of advice there. Thanks,
80. 2:26Matt.