How to Scrub Your Social Media Before a Job Search

Social media icons on paint canisters
Your social media activity paints a colorful picture, but is it appropriate for recruiters and managers?

Last fall, I spoke to a group of students who were about to graduate and apply for jobs in the game industry. We talked about the usual topics – the importance of a strong portfolio, a great resume, and excellent interviewing skills. But then a young woman in the back of the room raised her hand and asked an incredibly insightful question: “When recruiters evaluate my job application, will they also search and investigate me on social media?”

She desperately wanted to know, and for a good reason. When she was in high school, she went through an angry phase and said things all over social media that she later regretted. And now, she was afraid a potential employer might see those terrible old posts, and it would destroy her chances of landing a job.

Unfortunately, she was absolutely right.

Whether it’s Instagram, Twitter, Reddit, or some other flavor-of-the-month app, we all have a long history on social media. Many of our online conversations, pictures, and videos were posted when we were younger, and we weren’t considering how it might look to a potential employer years later. For many of us, it doesn’t look good.

So now that you’re an adult and you need a job, how can you scrub your online profiles to make sure employers aren’t scared away by social media posts haunting you from the distant past?

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See through an employer’s eyes

You might be surprised at how much of your social media content is visible by complete strangers. Strangers like a recruiter or hiring manager who’s about to review your application and make a decision on whether or not to hire you. (Yikes!)

Fortunately, it’s easy to find out which of your social media pics and posts are visible to strangers. Start by opening a web browser in private mode, and visit each of your pages and profiles on your various social media accounts. Now you can see what they see. I think you’ll be surprised at how much of your social media footprint is available for viewing by anyone at all, anywhere in the world. Even by complete strangers.

Tip: To put your web browser into private mode, open the File menu and look for “New Private Window” or “New Incognito Window.”

But that’s just the beginning. Now that you’re seeing what they see, it’s time to start scrubbing. You’ll start by searching yourself online to make a list of social media sites to target for cleaning. Then you’ll scrub your posts, your profile pics, and your online photos. Let’s get started!

Search yourself

Most recruiters will start with a simple web search, so you can do the same. Just google your name (in private mode, remember), and see what comes up.

Look for every social media account, blog, or discussion forum that has content about you, and make a list. Next, you’ll visit every one of those websites in order to scrub your account and tighten up the privacy controls. Let’s start by scrubbing your posts.

Scrub your posts

Still in private mode, go to each of your social media profiles and scroll through your timeline. You’re looking for any posts or conversations that would be “red flags” for a potential employer, and then remove them or change the privacy settings so they’re not visible to the public. Some things to look for:

  • Posts you wrote when you were obviously angry or intoxicated.
  • Posts where you’re badmouthing other people, especially previous employers or coworkers.
  • Posts that some people might think are racist, sexist, or otherwise insulting to groups or individuals.
  • Posts that are religious or political in nature.
  • Posts that have vulgar or inappropriate words or language.
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After reading the above list, you might be thinking, “What’s the point of having a social media account if I can’t be myself and speak my mind?” That’s a balance that each person needs to find for themselves. It’s up to you to decide whether it’s worth potentially losing out on an awesome game job, due to speaking your mind publicly on social media.

Privacy settings are your friend here. You might be able to have the best of both worlds by setting your timelines so they’re only visible to friends — not to the public, and not to friends-of-friends.

Scrub your profile pictures

Next, let’s check your profile pictures. You know every social media account has a profile picture. But did you know they can often be viewed by anyone, even if your account is marked as private? That’s why every one of your profile picts need to be as professional as possible.

For the best profile photos, use these tips:

  • Pics should be of you by yourself, with nobody else in the frame (either fully or partially).
  • Choose a pic of yourself looking at the camera, with a nice smile. You want to look like a friendly, happy person.
  • Be sure you’re wearing appropriate clothing. Think “office” clothing, not “clubbing” attire.

If you don’t have a good pic to use for your profile, maybe it’s time to make one. Ask for help from a friend who’s good at taking pictures. Put on a nice shirt, and go somewhere with a good background and good lighting. This could be your best profile pic ever!

Scrub your photos

If you’ve been on social media for several years, there could be hundreds of photos of you online. And many of them might not even be on your account, but on the accounts and timelines of your friends and classmates.

To evaluate all the photos of you online, use a combination of web searches and the search features built into each online platform you’ve used over the years. Find and remove any pictures that could hurt your chances of landing a job if found by an employer. For example:

  • Any pics of you being intoxicated or using drugs or alcohol (even if it was legal).
  • Any pics that are sexually explicit, or that some people might think are showing “too much skin.”
  • Any pics of you making vulgar gestures or poses.
  • Any pics of you wearing clothes with symbols or words that some people might find offensive.

Keep in mind, any photos posted by your friends might be available to the public as well. So if you find any inappropriate photos or other content posted on your friends’ accounts, you may need to ask your friends to politely remove them.

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Learn and use your privacy settings

In the early days of social media, it was incredibly difficult to control access to your posts, photos, and other content. If a friend posted a picture of you doing a handstand on a keg, everyone including your grandmother might see it.

Fortunately, most modern social media sites and apps have good privacy controls — that is, if you know how to use them. So take the time to learn how to use each site’s privacy controls, and consider changing your settings to only allow friends to see your content.

But keep in mind, getting the privacy settings right can be trickier than it sounds. You need to read carefully and be vigilant. For example, I’ve already mentioned that profile photos are almost always visible to the public, regardless of your privacy settings. There are many other bits of info that could be visible to employers, such as:

  • Your nickname
  • Relationship status
  • Books, movies, and bands you’ve liked
  • Any photos you’ve ever had set as a profile photo
  • (Many others!)

So be sure to thoroughly check your profiles using private mode in your browser, to make sure you didn’t “like” any potentially embarrassing Facebook pages back when you were 14 years old.

Search yourself again, and again

After you’ve followed the instructions above to scrub your online persona, take a well-deserved break. But then, come back and do one last private-mode (Incognito) search to make sure you didn’t miss anything.

Did you get it all? That’s great! Pat yourself on the back for putting in the work to do an online scrub that’s a little tedious and time consuming, but super important for landing that awesome game job you’ve been dreaming about.

But from now on, just remember: Nothing you post online is truly private. We’re living in a world where anything posted on social media could one day be found by a future employer. With that in mind, maybe the easiest way to keep inappropriate content from falling into the wrong hands… is to avoid uploading it in the first place.

Image credit: BitsFromBytes.com/Flickr/CloudIncome.com

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