In a competitive job market, you need every edge you can get, and one of the most overlooked areas is your social media accounts. 70% of employers are screening your social media these days, and 78% think employees should maintain work-appropriate content on their social media pages.

The fact is, anything can derail your chances of landing your dream job, especially if it’s in a specialized industry. Even something innocuous on Facebook or Instagram could result in an offer being pulled at the last moment—and it’s such an avoidable problem!

By learning how to prepare your social media for a job search, you’re going to have a leg up over all the other candidates who didn’t bother. We’ll show you how.

Where to Take Control

To learn exactly how to prepare your social media for a job search, you’ve first got to know about the various activity centers that list most of your interactions. While every provider is vulnerable to employer scrutiny, here are directions for the most commonly-checked accounts.

Facebook:

1. Click your profile picture in the top right of Facebook.
2. Select Settings & Privacy, then click Activity Log.
3. Here, you can filter by Date or review Activity Types.

Instagram:

1. Click the three-line menu button on the bottom left.
2. Click Your Activity.
3. Click Account History on the left.
4. Scroll to view all the changes you’ve made to your account.
5. Click Sort & filter at the top to change the order of your activity (or enter a start and end date) then click Apply to filter your results.

X (Formerly Twitter):

1. Go to https://twitter.com/search-advanced.
2. Enter your username in the From these accounts available under People.
3. Use the pop-up calendar tool to select the start and the end date.
4. Click the Latest tab to view your X history in a specific date range.

What to Remove

If you wouldn’t say or show something at work (or wouldn’t want to hear/see it at work), it has to go. Generic personal opinions and content are also vulnerable. Here are some specific suggestions if you’re worried about how to prepare your social media for a job search:

• Check your profile pictures, galleries, and personal info. Anything that could even slightly allude to illegal activity, drug use, nudity, political speech, hate speech, or poor decision-making should be removed.
• Delete—don’t just edit—posts and comments that cover any of the topics in the previous bullet point. Even if posts are intended as humor, better safe than sorry.
• Review your likes. It’s not just about what you say, it’s who you agree with! Whether it’s the X Heart button or the Facebook Like button, comb through and delete any likes or other interactions that could remotely be seen as endorsing the above restrictions.
• Edit your friends lists. If you’re friends with someone saying something horrible or controversial on their social media—even if you don’t interact—it can come back to bite you. “Guilty by association” may not be fair, but it’s often how people see things. You can always add them back later if it’s important to you.

If the platform allows it, sometimes bulk deletion features can greatly simplify this process.

Build up Your Industry Presence

When thinking about how to prepare your social media for a job search, it’s not just about “slash and burn.” You should also work to enhance your credentials, industry contacts, and highlight your industry passion. When an employer is scrolling through your posts, you also want them to see how engaged and excited you are about their field!

Here are a few ideas to consider:

• Friend and Like people and businesses in your field.
• Interact with the businesses and friends you add. Be sure to keep interactions accurate and professional. Don’t start lecturing or posting inaccurate information.
• Share/Retweet appropriate and relevant content. This builds familiarity and increases the chances of interaction with connections.
• Link your LinkedIn and other sites to your professional website as appropriate (if you have one). It’s a great way to help employers learn more about you without being too obvious, and they’ll be looking for your website anyway! Obviously, keep your professional website clean, neat, and up to date, and held to the same standards as your social media accounts.

Have a Fresh Set of Eyes Double-Check Your Work

As careful as you might have been, things always slip through the cracks. Even the very best and most popular authors use editors, and you should too! They’re an invaluable resource you shouldn’t ignore when thinking about how to prepare your social media for a job search.

While a friend or colleague can be a good choice, a professional recruiting agency that does this for a living will be able to give you the best advice. They know exactly what to look for, and the best of the best have a wide range of contacts in successful businesses you’ll be applying to. They can give you behind-the-scenes advice and tips for making your social media presence resonate.

Dialing in Success with V20 Recruiting + Consulting

V20 has been connecting great candidates to the right companies for years. We don’t just pass resumes back and forth—our recruiters work with individuals and companies to learn exactly what each party wants and needs so we can find the best fit. Our reputation depends on it!

When helping clients find the right job, we’re involved from start to finish. We offer resume advice, interview coaching, tips on how to prepare your social media for a job search, career guidance, and any number of other services that will help connect you with the right company at the right time.

All it takes to get your career in powersports, motorsports, and recreation firing on all cylinders is a single call to one of our talented recruiters. We work with the best recruiters in the game, and getting you connected with a career you love is our personal passion. Learn more about our superstar team on their profile pages on our website, or you can contact our head office directly. Reach out today!