If you’re like most people, you maintain both a personal and professional social media presence. This is great, as platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn allow you to keep up with family and friends and connect with potential employers.
Only 4 percent of recruiters don’t use social media in the hiring process, according to the 2015 Jobvite Recruiter Nation Survey, so you need to keep your guard up. Enabling privacy settings on personal content is smart, but do note that anything shared online can be made public or accessible to others. Consequently, always think before you post, and never share anything that could damage your professional reputation.
4 Ways to Manage Your Personal and Professional Social Media Profiles
- Share Everything With Everyone
Obviously the easiest option, granting your entire network access to the same content can be a good choice if you don’t post frequently. You’ll have to be especially guarded with everything shared, because you don’t want to get too personal with professional contacts, but you also don’t want to bore family and friends by posting only work-related content. Only take this route if you’re certain you can cater to both audiences.
- Enable Content Filters
Getting a bit more technical, another route you can take using the same profile for everyone is to filter posts so only a specific audience can see them. For example, on Facebook, you can put all professional contacts on a list, then direct work-related posts to these people only — and subsequently block them from seeing photos of your family’s Thanksgiving dinner. This approach takes careful diligence, so only use it if you’re tech savvy enough to create the filters and willing to take the time to make sure you assign the right audience to each post.
- Maintain Separate Accounts
If you want a personal and professional presence on Facebook — or other platforms that don’t have content filters — but prefer to keep them separate, create two accounts. Each will need to be created under a separate email address, but will allow you to share content with only the specified audience. Make a habit of always double-checking which account you’re signed in under before posting, because you don’t want to inadvertently share updates to the wrong crowd.
- Designate Platforms for Personal and Professional Use
Likely the best way to keep work and play entirely separate on social media, choose certain platforms for strictly personal and professional use. For example, you might use Facebook and Instagram personally and Twitter and LinkedIn professionally. Be sure to enable privacy settings on your personal accounts, because otherwise your professional contacts — and the rest of the internet — will have access to your private content.
If you’re ready to find a new light industrial, warehouse or manufacturing opportunity, PrideStaff Northern Kentucky is here to assist. Contact us today to start your search for a temporary, temp-to-hire or direct hire position at a company you’re proud to work for!
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