Is your boss watching you?

I have been reading many articles about how more and more potential employers are looking on social networking sites to recruit for available positions.  The Society for Human Resource Management released a study which revealed that more than half of companies are using social networking sites to recruit. 

So is this good or bad news? Well, in my opinion, it depends on how you are branding yourself.  If you are active on sites such as LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Google+ and have strategically represented yourself in a way where potential employers would be impressed by what they see, then that is good news. 

The bad news? That comes when you don’t take control of your social presence.  If you have public photos, comments, updates, etc. that you would not want an employer to see, learn the privacy settings on the social networking sites that you use.  Whenever posting something publically ask yourself “would I hire a person who posts similar posts?” 

It is also a good idea to Google yourself.  Be sure to look past the first page of Google search to see what else comes up.  You could be surprised (and not all surprises are good).

In conclusion, be smart and protect yourself.  You have seen many ads for safe sex, maybe it’s time to practice safe net.