Social Media blunders that could cost you your Job

Over 78% of job recruiters check search engines for background on candidates, and 63 percent check social media sites, too. So it doesn’t matter how you set your privacy settings, whether you friend your boss on Facebook, or how few followers you have: What you do on social media every day can have a very real impact on your career and your salary. Below are things that could cost you a job.

Tweeting about an interview or a job. In what is known as the “Cisco Fatty” incident, a graduate student got a paid internship at Cisco, then tweeted whether or not a “fatty paycheck” was worth the drive for “hating the work”. A Cisco employee saw it and responded.

Even if you’re not being rude, be careful what you put out there. Don’t make assumptions that could rub the hiring manager the wrong way. Also you could be alerting competition to a job opportunity.

Criticize your work condition, unless you’re serious. Complaining about your work conditions is technically protected speech under labor law, but some companies have social media policies. A private conversation with your supervisor will go farther than a post on Twitter. Plus it makes future employers look at you with a raised eyebrow.

Badmouth your clients. If you are upset with your clients, take it up with your supervisor, not with social media.

Trash talk about your bosses, colleagues, or organization. Social media is public, which means everyone can read what you post. If you are truly miserable, starting looking for ways to out. If you decide to leave, communicate why in a respectful way in your exit interview.

Pick a public fight. If you are getting criticized publically, have a respectful public conversation rather than fighting fire with fire. It makes you look better when you handle it well. If someone is attacking you on a personal level (cyber bullying), ignore them.

Credit: realsimple.com