Every job seeker should understand the importance of researching potential employers online. However, many of those same job seekers fail to recognize that employers are also researching them online. According to a recent survey, 70 percent of all employers screen potential candidates on social media and three out of four run a quick Google search before deciding who to interview. If you're embarking on a job search, it's important to understand how your social media presence could be helping or hurting your chances.

How Social Media Can Hurt Your Job Search

You may think it's no big deal to keep your Facebook, Twitter and Instagram profiles public, but think again. One innocuous post taken the wrong way, one tagged photo you didn't know existed, one accidental "like" of offensive material could end your shot at landing a job before you ever get an interview.

To eliminate the chances your personal profiles will harm your search, make every profile private and clean up your friends and followers to only include people you know personally. Then, go through and delete any posts or photos that could be questionable and remove tags from photos that aren't 100 percent wholesome.

Leveraging Social Media to Help Your Job Search

Hiring managers don't research you online to be sneaky, they just want to know you are a serious candidate before they invest the time to interview you. Hiring is a time-consuming and expensive process, and they use the internet as a tool to help them decide where to invest that time and money. If you want to make the right impression, your online presence must show you are the right person for their company.

Once your personal profiles are set to private, follow these tips to ensure social media helps your job search:

• Make your LinkedIn profile public, and spend time polishing it to ensure it is completed, updated and searchable using relevant keywords for your field.
• Join industry groups on LinkedIn and participate thoughtfully in the discussions you find there.
• Create new (additional) social media profiles on Facebook, Twitter and any other platform that makes sense. Use these as your professional, public profiles. Here, you can follow thought leaders in your field, share relevant information and show you are passionate about your industry.
• Comment thoughtfully on content shared by industry influencers.
• Google yourself regularly to ensure that only professional, positive information shows in results. The more content you generate on social media, the more positive those results will be.
• Check security settings on your personal profiles regularly. Sometimes updates can change settings, exposing private posts and photos.

If you are looking to grow your career this year and you'd like more advice on how to create a positive impression for hiring managers, contact the expert recruiters at PrideStaff today.