WHY SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS CAN COST YOU YOUR JOB?

By Hiral Thanawala, ET Bureau| May 01, 2017, 06.30 AM IST

Mumbai resident Nupur Kothari was addicted to social media. She had to share everything. From pictures of herself with stray puppies and kittens to politically incorrect musings on social issues, it was all there on her wall. While she loved what she did and her friends “liked” her random posts, a prospective employer did not quite feel the same way. 

After clearing the final interview for a job with a wellknown pizza chain, Kothari was denied the appointment letter as the company took a dim view of her casual attitude online. Kothari’s misfortune is hardly unique. Background checks of prospective employees involves a close look at the candidate’s profile and behaviour on social media. Even current employers keep an eye on existing employees that way. What started as keeping tabs on job sites by current and prospective employers, today involves every platform available. 

Professional platforms are routinely used by recruiters to find linkages to candidates. Posts on non-professional networking sites provides valuable insight into the person the company is looking at. Says Thammaiah B.N., Managing Director of recruitment consultancy firm Kelly Services India, “Current employers analyse quality of updates, followers, posts or comments, participation in professional and voluntary forums and communities to keep a watch on an employee. Prospective employers will keenly watch for comments by the candidate on their existing employer. Most will not appreciate open feedback and statements that appear to tarnish the image of the company.” 

Not everyone is a friend 

Anyone trying to tarnish your image online can also wreak havoc on your career. In 2011, 32-year-old Mumbai resident Niraj Kumar accepted a Facebook friend request from one Mansi Shah. Soon the two became good friends and chatted online regularly. However, the two never met. In 2013, Kumar stopped communicating with Shah and got engaged to another girl. 

In no time, multiple fake profiles of Kumar that Shah had created popped up online. She had added his friends and posted morphed pictures of her and Kumar, which gave the impression that the two were married. Adult content and abuses soon followed on the profiles. Kumar’s engagement was called off by his fiancee’s family and he lost his job as his employer felt he was an embarrassment for the company. For one year, Kumar could not land a job as prospective employers found his online profiles unacceptable.

Be responsible 

Irresponsible use of social media can jeopardise even stable careers. Pune-based couple Shilpa Apte, 26, and Sahunak Manjrekar, 27, worked for the same IT firm but in different branches. Apte would regularly post pictures of herself with male colleagues, and would often be tagged by them too. Furious with what he regarded as his wife’s inappropriate behaviour, Manjrekar one day stormed into Apte’s office and a very public showdown followed. Not surprisingly  both were fired by the company. Ashish Shah CEO and Founder of social analytics and online advertising firm, Vertoz advises, “Don’t tag or allow anyone to tag you in posts or pictures. When you tag someone, you increase your post’s reach. Strangers can also view your post and know more about you.” 

Social media is a sophisticated tool that lays open a person’s lifestyle or even his or her income and spending patterns. Banks and other lending institutions and even insurance companies are increasingly leaning towards analysing the digital footprint of clients rather than just looking at traditional data provided by applicants. Ranjit Punja, CEO and Co-Founder of credit facilitating firm Creditmantri explains, “The LinkedIn profile of a customer can be used to gauge his professional stability .. frequency of job changes, depth of his professional network, his or her education background, etc. This helps the lender understand the customer better.” 

Restraint is key 

So whether you are looking for a job or are already working, it helps to be restrained with your posts. N. Shiva Kumar, Business Head-RPO of recruitment consultancy firm Team-Lease Services says, “What you post on social media is how you are portraying yourself to the world. Always avoid inappropriate content and arguments on social media. Think before you post and be very restrictive. Just post what is essential.” Devashish Chakravarty, Director, Executive Search, Quezx.com, is more specific. “Treat LinkedIn as a professional document like your CV and think of your Facebook posts as something that will appear on the front page of a newspaper the next day. That will give you an idea of what is appropriate and what is not,” he says. 

Also, be cautious about who you befriend. Do not accept friend requests from people you do not know. Tighten your privacy settings so that others cannot post inappropriate comments. Gaurav Mendiratta, Founder & CEO of digital marketing firm, SocioSquares explains, “Keep your profile searchable only through email address or phone number by people in your network and nonsearchable from search engines. Also, search your name on Google and see all possible links which list you, then try to delete your digital presence on as many links as possible.” 

(Some names have been changed to protect the privacy of the individuals) 

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