How to Protect Your Facebook From Potential Employers

“What would my prospective employer find out about me with a simple Google search?” you might think. If you are on a job hunt, you must have probably Googled your name already, only to see what pops up on search engines. Among your findings there might have been your Facebook profile, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn accounts, and any other activities you must have performed during the years.

If you don’t feel comfortable sharing that information with the entire world, and want to protect your privacy and social media accounts from potential employers, here are the steps that you must take.

Check, If You Haven’t Already

If you haven’t check to see what shows up when you Google you name, it’s time to do it now. It’s better to know how things stand, so you know where to begin.

• Google your name; use other popular search engines as well, such as Yahoo! or Bing; see what pops up

• Ask yourself: “Am I satisfied with my prospective employers seeing this type of information?”

• Dig deeper, and see what you can find about yourself on social media. Are your posts adequate? Are they “nasty?” Do you see something that shouldn’t be mentioned?

If you don’t think that your Facebook/other social media account accordingly relates to your reputation, go on to the next step and see what you can do.

What’s My Next Step?

You have two options now – either do a general clean up and get rid of all the unfavorable content, or optimize your security settings to hide your profile from recruiters.

Mary Adams, freelancer specialized in best resume writing services at Writers’ Style, shares her story. “I must admit: college was a continuous party for me. I have so many embarrassing pictures from back then! Before I started working for Writers’ Style, I had to do a complete clean-up of my profile, as I knew they were going to look my name up on social media. If I hadn’t done it, I probably wouldn’t have gotten invited for an interview.”

Do a General Clean Up

Cleaning up your social media can take a long time, but it’s totally doable. You must have patience and commit some time to it. Here is what you can do:

• Check all of your accounts, one by one, including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn

• Hit “view my profile as public” on all of the above accounts, and see what other people are able to spot when watching your media profile

• Get rid of all the crazy photos from the past – keep only the ones that truly represent the professional person you’ve become

• If you can’t find any past images that represent you, post new photos that reflect who you are; if you don’t have any, ask your family or friends to take some professional shots of you; tip: wear a business attire for amazing outcomes!

• Get rid of all the unnecessary content, and design your profile in an advantageous manner– include all of your accomplishments, talents, and skills; include future goals and expectations as well

• Consider designing you own personal website, and getting a private domain

• Delete all content that you are ashamed with, such as super-provocative photos, or posts on controversial subjects

• If you are unable to remove tags on content that’s bothering to you, report those people by filing a complaint against them

If you are really unable to clean up everything you’ve wanted to, think about opening up a new Facebook account, and getting a fresh start.

Optimize Your Security Settings

Do employers use Facebook to search for reasons not to hire you? Yes, they do. Should you optimize your Facebook security settings according to your needs? Yes, you should. Here are the steps you must take in order to get your profile in shape for your job hunt.

1. Log into your Facebook account

2. In the right top corner of the page, you’ll see your name. Click the “Account” tab.

3. Go to “Privacy Settings.”

4. Click on “Customize Settings.” You can now see the description of your current status. Check the details.

5. Customize your settings by choosing your individual preferences. In order to secure your account 100%, click on “Friends Only” for every question Facebook asks. “Who can see your future posts?” “Who can see your friends list?” “Who can look you up using the e-mail address your provided?” “Who can look you up using the phone number your provided?” Choose “Friends Only” for all of these questions. That means nobody besides you and your friends will be able to see your posts, or interact with you in any way.

6. Go to “Timeline and Tagging Settings” tab. Questions such as, “Who can post on your timeline?” “Who can see what others post on your timeline?” “Who can see posts you’re tagged in on your timeline?” “When you're tagged in a post, who do you want to add to the audience of the post if they can't already see it?” will pop up. Select “Friends” from all from all the available options.

7. If you would like to review posts people add to your timeline before the post appears on your timeline, go to that setting, and select “On.” Select the same option for reviewing tags before they appear on your timeline.

8. Preview your profile as another person. Go to “Timeline and Tagging Settings” tab again, “Review,” and right next to “Review what other people see on your timeline,” press “View As.”

9. Review your timeline as another person. You can even choose a specific friend if you’d like to. If you can still spot something you don’t resonate with, go back and delete that content, or change privacy settings again. There’s always the “Only Me” option – that means, you are the only one who can post on your timeline, see content, tag yourself, and take any other private decisions and actions.

10. When you’re all set, go back by clicking “Back to Privacy Settings.”

11. Remember! Your profile picture and cover photo can be seen by anyone searching for your name, so change them if you are not fully satisfied. Make sure your profile picture is professional and adequate for a job seeker, and do the same for you cover. Hit “Change Profile Picture” and upload a better version if you need to.

These 11 aforementioned steps will help you stay afloat while searching for various jobs, both online and offline. They will keep your “stalkers” out of the way, and give you the freedom to post only the desired things on your timeline.

Unfortunately, most people are judged by their posts and tags in today’s society. In order to avoid losing important life opportunities, take all the necessary steps into cleaning up your Facebook history, or hiding previous, embarrassing posts from employers looking to hire you. Do not let social media stay in the way of your success!