Your Social Media Presence Can Help And Hurt Your Job Prospects
Recently I was visiting with an employer who told me their firm’s process when considering candidates for an open attorney position. In addition to the steps you
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comfortable with your online presence. By that I mean you need to recognize employers will be looking, and be comfortable with whatever hiring decisions they make when factoring in what they see. If you are the anti-big business candidate, you need to be comfortable that a civil defense firm may find that off-putting, but a plaintiff’s firm may find it appealing. The idea you need to be comfortable with your social media presence also works because it helps you filter out which employers you really want to work for and which you do not. In a challenging job market, it can be tempting to create the impression you are the right candidate for all employers. You should resist that urge. Use social media to your advantage, but not to create a false impression just to appease potential employers. Remember you are looking for the right fit just as much as the employer is, so it is in both of your interests not to hide or shy away from who you are at the core. After hearing all this, you might think the simplest thing would be to delete your social media accounts altogether. You should know there are risks to this approach as well, in addition to the missed opportunity of positively selling yourself to employers. The employer I visited with views the lack of an online presence as a red flag that the person is either hiding something, anti-technology or just otherwise disconnected. That’s why we encourage you to have social media accounts, in particular LinkedIn, where you can use share with potential employers who you are and what you want to do. If you have any questions about your social media presence, please reach out to us anytime so we can walk through it with you. Connect with Daniel at Daniel_Hare@Baylor.edu and/or @BaylorLawDaniel on Twitter. Job of the Week: Each week I highlight a job in Symplicity you might be interested in but may have missed. This week's job is: Staff Attorney with Lone Star Legal Aid (Houston, Entry-level) Log in to Symplicity to view this job and apply. ]]>
comfortable with your online presence. By that I mean you need to recognize employers will be looking, and be comfortable with whatever hiring decisions they make when factoring in what they see. If you are the anti-big business candidate, you need to be comfortable that a civil defense firm may find that off-putting, but a plaintiff’s firm may find it appealing. The idea you need to be comfortable with your social media presence also works because it helps you filter out which employers you really want to work for and which you do not. In a challenging job market, it can be tempting to create the impression you are the right candidate for all employers. You should resist that urge. Use social media to your advantage, but not to create a false impression just to appease potential employers. Remember you are looking for the right fit just as much as the employer is, so it is in both of your interests not to hide or shy away from who you are at the core. After hearing all this, you might think the simplest thing would be to delete your social media accounts altogether. You should know there are risks to this approach as well, in addition to the missed opportunity of positively selling yourself to employers. The employer I visited with views the lack of an online presence as a red flag that the person is either hiding something, anti-technology or just otherwise disconnected. That’s why we encourage you to have social media accounts, in particular LinkedIn, where you can use share with potential employers who you are and what you want to do. If you have any questions about your social media presence, please reach out to us anytime so we can walk through it with you. Connect with Daniel at Daniel_Hare@Baylor.edu and/or @BaylorLawDaniel on Twitter. Job of the Week: Each week I highlight a job in Symplicity you might be interested in but may have missed. This week's job is: Staff Attorney with Lone Star Legal Aid (Houston, Entry-level) Log in to Symplicity to view this job and apply. ]]>