By Colleen Harley
Copy Editor

Nowadays, almost everyone is on social media websites. From elementary school kids to the elderly, they are logging in and posting on websites like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram.

Social media is a great way to stay connected with friends and family, but think before that post/share/tweet button gets pushed. What gets posted on these websites is going to be looked at by future employers, so always take caution.

Future employers may want to get to investigate someone before they hire them for the job. For example, these managers/bosses might search the potential employee’s name on Facebook for more information on them. If the profile is not private, they can see almost everything the hopeful employee posts. That’s right, everything.

It’s a known fact that teenagers do not think before they post. Potential employers 10 years from now may be curious to see what was posted when the hopeful employee was 16, 17, or 18 years old. If they come across something they do not like, for example a status update with a curse in it, they could very well not hire the hopeful at all. Employers want an abundance of professionalism in the workplace, not curse riddled tweets.

Also, things like lying on public websites, posting inappropriate pictures, negative comments on previous employers/people, talking about alcohol and drugs, and also lacking good communication skills, would all be reasons for an employer not to hire a candidate.

In reality, separating inappropriate from appropriate can be difficult. This is because a lot of people do not take into account who is going to be looking at it. A grandmother does not want to see their granddaughter/grandson caught in various compromising situations and neither does a future employer.

Things that shouldn’t be kept private are things like, where people were formerly employed, where they attended college/high school, and also what they plan to do with their future career opportunities now and in the future.

The bottom line is, don’t keep social media completely private, but leave things that a future employee might want to see being posted, on public display. If not, it might completely ruin the hopeful future in a career.