Watch what you say

I came across an article today titled “Help! My boss is on twitter“. Allow me to share a secret with you, if you current boss isn’t on twitter yet, I can guarantee that your next one will be. Social media has caught on like wildfire. In all the excitement too often people forget that everything that you say on twitter / facebook and others is being published and recorded. This isn’t a private conversation you are having. Just because it’s not at the top of your feed doesn’t mean that it’s not there.

Even if your current employer isn’t savvy to social media yet, your next employer will more than likely due some due diligence (as simple as a google search) and will be hiring or not hiring based on what he/she finds. You can tell more about an individual from their tweets than a job interview. Even if you nail an interview (assuming you get that far) a few misguided tweets could blow it for you. Here’s some general good advice.

1. Nobody want’s to hire someone that has a bad attitude.

It negatively affects everyone and lowers productivity faster than you could imagine. If you are complaining, especially about your job, boss, position, etc in your tweets (in a very public way) imagine how much more damage you are doing in private.

2. Loose lips shink ships.

If your the type of person that is isn’t smart enough to keep private matters private, why would anyone trust you with any information or responsibilities.

3. An image is worth 1000 words.

Be especially careful about what images you post. Your appearance and conduct can say a lot about who you are and nothing reveals that better than a photo or video.