Yesterday President Obama was in the Washington suburb of Arlington, Virginia giving a speech to the Wakefield High School students. After the conclusion of his speech, one ambitious 9th grader asked him “How he could become President one day,” saying that “when you’re young, you know, you make mistakes and you do some stupid stuff.” Coming from someone so young in the eyes of the job world, it is truly inspiring that they want to know what it takes at such a young age; easily a symptom of the Information Age.
Now in response to the student President Obama gave some very sound advice that everyone has heard before.
“I want everybody here to be careful about what you post on Facebook, because in the YouTube age whatever you do, it will be pulled up again later somewhere in your life,” Obama said. “That’s number one.”
While he may sound like a broken record, coming from such a high authority – The President of The United States of America – being broadcast nationally, it will have a HUGE impact on the next generation of students. He later remarked in a private question-and-answer session that he has heard stories about Facebook postings hindering job applicants, saying:
“I’ve been hearing a lot about young people who, you know, they’re posting stuff on Facebook, and then suddenly they go apply for a job.”
It is truly amazing to have a President that is finally in touch with the problems that face our soon to be young professionals. Research conducted recently shows that nearly half of companies now screen social media profiles in the hiring process based on content they find like provocative photos, alcohol, or bad-mouthing of former employers being frequently cited as a reason for not considering candidates.
With over 250million and counting users on Facebook, it is becoming a bigger and bigger concern about what you post online. Anything you put online is permanent and can be found. This can be said about any other service as well, so as the President said, be careful about what you post!
