A post seen on HR Grapevine (Twitter rant sees girl fired from pizza job before starting) featured an employee who posted a rant on Social Media and was soon sacked from the pizza job before even starting work.
“How does that make me look in the eyes of my work?”
There is no doubt that the prevalence of Social Media is a game changer in how we all behave. But how many of us consider what we post on a daily basis on accounts such as Twitter and Facebook in the context of “How does that make me look in the eyes of my work?” Now – you may think “so what”? You don’t really care and that’s fair enough. I guess this thought article isn’t really directed at you. But those people who have career aspirations and are keen to build their reputation in line with their career really ought to think carefully about what they post.
The dangers of over exposing yourself on Social Media
Why? Well let me share one or two examples:
We recently had a would-be supplier come to our offices to pitch their services to us. A couple of my colleagues did a little research on the two people who were due to attend and uncovered a picture of one of the women, posing suggestively whilst leaning over a bar looking a little the worse for wear and wearing not a great deal by way of clothes.
Now – it may be that you choose to share this image with a close friend, but would you really choose to share this with a person you are hoping to impress with something other than your vital statistics?
Similarly, a Senior HR Manager (who shall remain appropriately anonymous) recently posted a picture of herself nursing a hangover, whilst stating that she was too drunk to remember what she had done with her daughter’s birthday present! Funny? Possibly – but would it really help her when she had to talk to her own team about standards and professional behaviour in the workplace the following day?
Be careful what you wish for
We all know that we behave differently in private where we can let our hair down. The difference is whether you choose to openly share those moments and whether it is wise to do so?
This isn’t about being prudish, or judgemental. But the proverb that is being highlighted here is that you should be careful what you wish for. If you post on social media to attract attention to yourself, then don’t be surprised if you attract attention from sources other than those you intended to engage with.
Chris Keeling is the founder/MD of Jobtrain Solutions and formerly worked in HR within Land Rover, the NHS, and the Boddington Group.