There’s a strange chilling effect with social media users these days. With so many people looking for work, no one wants to write or post anything that might hurt their chances at their next interview. Not posting pictures of your last sushi night out with your friends, where you did all those saké bombers and wound up in the street in your underwear pretending to be a bullfighter and swinging your pants at oncoming traffic… that’s definitely something no hiring manager wants to see.

What about something more innocent? Should you write about your political beliefs? Music you hate? Post pictures of your last hunting trip, or a vacation video taken of you in a bathing suit?

What is the line between something that could be bad for you, and simply sharing something from your life?

Know the Line

Rather than simply being paranoid and not posting anything, think about whether or not what you are going to say or show is really negative. Is it anything that falls into this quick list:

1. Hate speech
2. Showing drug use
3. Commission of any other crimes
4. Nudity
5. Egregious swearing

Not surprisingly, these are the big ones that you should always avoid posting publicly. The easy rule of thumb here is keep your social media life as PG-13 as possible. The first four are painfully obvious, but perhaps number 5 isn’t.

If you are always swearing when you post, this not only gives the impression that you may speak this way normally, but that you aren’t smart enough to come up with other words on your own. (And if you knew what “egregious” meant, this probably isn’t the case.)

If you do post this kind of content on your social network profiles, by all means hide them – don’t use your real name, and DO NOT share them in places where an employer will read them. Most people are finally aware of how much damage sharing information like this about themselves in public can be for them, so if this is at all true for you, just detach yourself from these profiles before you even submit that next resume.

The Troublesome Subtleties

Well that’s easy enough not to do – but what about political opinions, or even opinions about the industry you work in?

For the most part, you should never have to censor your real beliefs on these subjects. The first is that if everything you post is edited and sanitized, you won’t have any more fun. The reason for that Facebook or Twitter account is to share something about you. The fact of the matter is, if you don’t get an interview because of an honest opinion, you don’t want to be working at that company anyway. If your honest opinions really are in conflict with the culture of the company you are applying to, it really is for the best if you don’t get the call – not just for them, but for you as well.

Also, your opinions on your industry, while they may not be what everyone else says, shows that you have an intuitive understanding of the subject matter, and can come up with outside-the-box analysis. If the general consensus is that Home Loan A is a great product, and you can share reasons why it isn’t, the right hiring manager can learn that you not only know about the home loan industry, but that you can think for yourself. If the company does not want employees who can think beyond what they’re told about a product, you probably don’t want to work there either. Generally speaking, the ability to think independently is considered a virtue, and can actually help you.

Frequency

Oddly enough, while so many are worried about what they post, there isn’t the same kind of warning about how often you post. It can definitely work against you if you are posting to Twitter and Facebook and Linkedin twice an hour all day. If you are unemployed and have oodles of free time on your hands, you might be doing just that.

What a hiring manager sees, however, is someone addicted to social networking. They may conclude that, if hired, you will spend an inordinate amount of time continuing to post messages and photos and comments.

What Kind of Company Do You Want to Work For?

Don’t think I’m being insensitive when I suggest you don’t want to work for a company that doesn’t want you. We are definitely in an employer’s job market these days, and there are many candidates for them to choose from. Dealing with pleasing potential employers by not posting anything at all, however, can hurt more than help.

I have always maintained that if you are worried about what you do on line coming back to haunt you, you should distance your real life from your social networks. If it is too late for that, consider keeping two kinds of profiles – the fun one that cannot come back to you, and the professional one that you don’t mind employers seeing.

This issue ultimately comes down to controlling what others can learn about you. Given the amount of use social networks receive, it’s rather like learning that employers are listening in on your phone conversations too – so watch what you say.

The difference is that phone conversations really are private, and what you do on social media is not only public, but everyone knows that it’s public. Anything you are ashamed to share shouldn’t be shared – but anything else you should simply be prepared to stand by, and possibly even defend.

Your social networking footprint is a representation of who you are, and the best way for hiring managers to get to know you before an interview. While it is smart to hide the embarrassing stuff, don’t be ashamed to show people the rest.

Eric Reid is an Internet marketer from Tempe, Arizona, specializing in SEO and social media marketing. Currently he writes the blog Ciao Enrico, which is also his nom de plume on Twitter and many other social media sites. He recently took the best driver’s license photo anyone has ever seen.

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It’s an old story: The college student goes to the company to interview for an internship, only to have the hiring manager pull up their Myspace page and see pictures of the applicant getting drunk and sloppy.

The moral of the story is always, “Beware – Big Brother is watching you.”

The reaction of most, then, is to completely eschew all social media for fear of having some future manager drudge it up just when you’re hoping to work for them.

There again, what kind of life do you lead? Think about what you would post on a Myspace or Facebook page, if you don’t have one already: Picnics with your kids, exchanges with your friends about rebuilding a car, comments on Fan Pages you are interested in. These aren’t the kinds of things that would embarrass or get you in trouble – quite the contrary, it’s just the sort of information that lets a hiring manager see the whole you, and without having to fill out that awkward, “Interests and Hobbies” section on a job application form.

Rather than skipping social media entirely, it actually behooves you to create a full social presence for yourself, and to let people know about it. Create your own brand, just as if you were Coca-cola or Dell – but instead of selling products, you’ll use it to sell yourself.

I won’t go into the particulars of setting up each profile, but there are some key steps you’ll want to take in order to make social media work for you:

1. Your Brand

You will want to register profiles on various social sites using the same name each time. If your real name is available, great – grab it up everywhere. Personally, I know a lot of people have the name, “Eric Reid” so registering my name isn’t always an option. So I created my own on line name, “ciaoenrico.” Now when you do a search for ciaoenrico on Google, I am all that shows up. (Well, sometimes Enrico Berlinguer, but I’m there more than he is.)

You’ll also want to create an avatar – a photo ID on social networks, if you will. This will be what people recognize first when they come to any of your profiles.

This is the avatar for video blogger Robert Scoble on Twitter. The image says it all about him: This is me, happy, with my camera. It’s a simple statement that lets you know a great deal about him before you even read his information.

The consensus is that you should always use a personal headshot, but I disagree. A photo of yourself certainly represents you, rather literally in fact. My own avatar is a cartoon of myself I’ve been drawing since high school.

I think it represents my personality better than a simple photo. (On Linkedin, though, where serious business people congregate, I did go with a photo – because there are times for being a free spirit, and there are times to button down.)

Social media sites require specific image properties for a picture, but if you have a simple headshot you can usually crop it when you create your profile.

2. Your Sites

If you’re already on a few social media sites, great – you’re on your way. If not, though, consider which ones you’re likely to actually use on your own time, and which ones best fit your personality and tastes.

Linkedin is certainly one you’ll want to consider for your professional resume. Twitter and Facebook are certainly popular, but may not be for you – it really depends on if you enjoy using the tools available, and if you find a network of friends to socialize with.

Remember: Social networking always pinions on socializing. You can’t simply create a page, put up some information about yourself, and leave. Doing so shows people that you know it’s important to be using social media in some way, but that you aren’t actually interested. And people who actually like using social media sites can spot that kind of cynical use of it in a finger snap.

Once you’ve found your niche, you should have a list of sites that exemplify who you are and what you do. Keep a list of links to these, and add posts to them as often as you can.

In some cases, posting to one can automatically cross post to the other – for example, if you post something on Twitter, it can then turn up on your Facebook page as well, or a photography posted on Facebook can turn up on Flickr, a photography sharing site. You’ll want to post often to each of your profiles so you stay current, so this is a good tactic to consider if you know you don’t have time for everything.

A last bit on this topic: Don’t try to join everything. It will be difficult to maintain 20 or 30 social networking profiles as much as you will need to, and if you are able to, it could make you look a little creepy.

3. Your Network

Don’t feel you have to follow everyone in site – or even follow everyone who follows you. . The people you know define who you are in the world of social networking. So keep your list tight – co-workers, former co-workers, friends, people working in your industry particularly, and especially those people you don’t know now but want to. (Like the people who work at the company you are applying to, for starters.) Look at the people you are following the way you would your list of e-mail contacts: The people you want to hear from, and keep in contact with, you make connections with.

Social media makes you easier to find on many different channels. You have created several opportunities for people to know more about you, and what you know. The most important thing to remember is being tenacious. Your social media brand will be only as relevant as the last time you posted – so post often. Maintain a blog, or a Twitter account, answer questions posted on Linkedin Answers – find something to contribute every day. What people respond to the most is the value you can give to them. You know you are smart and capable enough to educate others on what you know – social media is your opportunity to do just that.

By Eric Reid (http://ciaoenrico.com)

Eric Reid is an Internet marketer from Tempe, Arizona, specializing in SEO and social media marketing. Currently he writes the blog Ciao Enrico, which is also his nom de plume on Twitter and many other social media sites. He is not married and has no kids, so he stays up late whenever he feels like it.

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