Your Facebook Status is Depressing...

Social Media. Oh, Social Media. It offers SO many perks for users. We can increase our online reputation, improve our search results, network professionally, find old friends and keep people up-to-date on our lives with these sites. All of these features are wonderful, but when you click the ‘Update My Status’ icon, what kind of image of yourself are you portraying to others?

“My boyfriend broke up with me.” “I’m so depressed.” “Ugh, I’m totally going to fail this class.” “I hate my job.” “My life sucks.”

These are just a few samples of the types of status updates I see on some of our students pages on a regular basis.

It is fine to be upset, to have a crappy day and to want to announce to the whole world that your ex boyfriend is a total jerk and it would most definitely be in his best interest to get run over by a car. I am sure your friends would love to chime in on that status and talk about what a two-timing jerk he was, how ugly his new girlfriend is AND comment on the fact that his jeans always looked funny, he tied his shoe laces too tight and he had a big nose. We can all get sucked into the negative topics on our social media sites, but here is a real reason why we, in fact, shouldn’t do this.

Hopefully you are using your social networking sites to build a professional image and to brand yourself in a way that you are proud to show to others online. (After all, if you are putting this information online, you had better be sure you want the internet world to see it all…because it CAN be found.)

So, here’s the deal:

If an employer logs on and finds your profile and sees these negative status updates, what kind of image is that portraying to them? It makes you look like a miserable person. You look like you hate school, hate learning, hate your job, hate your friends, hate your family, hate your pets, hate….everything. Is finding this information going to make them say, “WOW! I think we should DEFINITELY bring this person in for an interview?” Of course it isn’t! As a matter of fact, you are more likely to have your information tossed directly where all of that negative energy you are giving out on your status updates should go…in the trash can.

This might seem harsh. And I can only imagine some of you sitting here right now saying “Psh, it’s my freedom of speech I can say what I want, why are they checking my stuff, anyway? This is my PRIVACY!”

The truth is, yes, you can say what you want. And you might wonder why they are checking out your information, but if put in their position, I would, too. It costs a ton of money to hire a new employee. The cost to run the advertisement for the job, to take the time to interview the candidates, to complete the paperwork, to actually make the hire…this isn’t all free. They want to make sure they are choosing the best candidate for the job and if you have your information available online for them to check it out, they are going to do it. It makes sense if you really think about it.

So, sure. You have the RIGHT to say what you want. But what kind of image do YOU want to portray? Are you a ‘Negative Nancy’ who never has anything pleasant to say? Do you hate everything you are involved in? Does your status make you look like you don’t get along well with others? Well, if it does…I can promise you that I wouldn’t want to hire you and I think I can speak for hiring managers when I say, they won’t hire you, either.

So, sure. You have the RIGHT to say what you want. But what kind of image do YOU want to portray? Are you a ‘Negative Nancy’ who never has anything pleasant to say? Do you hate everything you are involved in? Does your status make you look like you don’t get along well with others? Well, if it does…I can promise you that I wouldn’t want to hire you and I think I can speak for hiring managers when I say, they won’t hire you, either.

So, next time you update your status, stop and think to yourself…”What is this status telling others about me?” Getting a job in our economy isn’t easy. We want to make sure we are doing everything we can to portray a positive, professional image of ourselves. This is just one more easy adjustment we can make in the ‘Brand New, Professional YOU!’

(besides…putting a link to our blog at www.wvjc.blogspot.com is a way better status than a depressing one. :))

-JT