Don't Let Social Media Ruin Your Career

Facebook is probably the most popular site on the Internet. People get frustrated with it, complain about it, and yet they continue to spend a good portion of their lives on it. Of course, this is not the only social networking tool available and more people are starting to figure that out. There is also Twitter, and a wealth of other social networking options. The one you use probably depends on how much tolerance you have for ads or the level of technology required in order to get the most out of the site. As an employment tool, these sites offer powerful options. However, they can break your career path as fast as they can make it.

If you are a fan of social networking, you need to be smart about how you use it. You have a personal life, but you also have a professional life to consider and you would not be the first person to be skipped over for a position or even lose your job because of something that you posted online using social media.

To begin with, if you have to share every opinion you have, consider using a fake name as well as an email address that your employers do not have access to. All it takes is for an employer to look up your name and find a harsh post or comment. When you operate under a different name you have a certain amount of freedom. Just be sure to leave out any real details that could lead back to you, like your phone number.

Avoid talking about the company you work for. If you name the company, you may not just blow an interview or current job. You could be setting yourself up for an expensive lawsuit as well. Even if you only name the company in positive posts but you use pronouns for negative posts, this could reflect on you and your career. If you do need to list your real employer, just do it on an account that does not share everything about your opinions and personal life.

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