As students scrambled to ready their resumes, personal appearance and interview techniques for the Career Fair Wednesday, they may have overlooked an important aspect of the overall presentation to a potential employer. According to a survey conducted by CareerBuilder in June of 2009, 45 percent of employers are using social media to screen potential employees, with another 11 percent planning to start. Students should be aware that their Facebook account or online presence might be a factor in whether or not they land a job for which they are interviewing. Don’t make the mistake and think employers won’t be using everything at their disposal to ensure they pick the most qualified and professional candidate for the job. You will be fooling only yourself.
Professional presence has been stressed on campus over the past few weeks with two seminars on the subject being presented. Ms. Anna Bass, instructor of management for the College of Business, stressed the importance of Professional Presence online or “netiquette” during the seminar. She also stressed how professional presence can be a competitive edge that sets you apart from your competition.
“Few books have been written to date on the subject of electronic etiquette, or netiquette as it is known,” said Bass. “The reason for this scarcity is that netiquette is a relatively new field that is evolving day by impression.” So head of to your Facebook page and give it a little “Facelift.”