Social media and your job search: how recruiters use it
Employers use social media in two ways: to find candidates who have not applied yet, and to look up people who have. A clear, consistent professional profile helps with the first; a quick cleanup of your public accounts helps with the second. You also need to know your privacy rights and how fake recruiters operate.
How employers recruit on social media
- Searching profiles. Recruiters search LinkedIn and other networks by job title, skills, location and employer, then message people who look like a match. This is called sourcing. If your profile does not use the words they search for, you will not appear.
- Posting jobs. Employers post openings on their company pages and in professional groups, and staff often share them on their own accounts. Following employers you want to work for puts these posts in front of you.
- Building their brand. Companies post about their culture, projects and people. These posts are useful interview research.
- Checking candidates. Before or after an interview, a recruiter may search your name to see what is public. New York's Department of Labor, for example, points out that employers always have access to information in the public domain and can search the internet.
A LinkedIn profile recruiters can find
- Photo: a clear, recent head-and-shoulders photo with a plain background. A photo makes the profile feel personal, but including one is your choice.
- Headline: not just your current title. Say what you do and what you are aiming for: "Operations and scheduling | Retail supervisor moving into health care operations".
- About section: 3–5 short paragraphs in the first person: what you do, two or three results with numbers, the skills you want to use, and what you are looking for.
- Experience: the same jobs, titles and dates as your resume, with 2–4 achievement bullets each. Inconsistencies between your profile and resume raise questions.
- Skills: list the skills that appear in postings for your target job, using their exact words.
- Location and job preferences: set your city and the titles and work types you want. Job-seeking signals can usually be shown to recruiters only or to everyone; check the setting if you do not want your current employer to know.
- Custom URL: edit it to your name, and add it to your resume header.
- Activity: sharing or commenting on news in your field once or twice a week keeps your profile active and visible to your network.
Other sites matter too. A designer's portfolio, a developer's code repository or a writer's published samples can count for more than a profile. Keep them current and link to them from your profile and resume.
Clean up your public profiles
- Search your own name in a private browser window, with and without your city. Look at the first two pages of web and image results.
- Check each account's privacy settings. Decide what is public, who can see your posts and friends list, and who can tag you. Review the "view as public" option if the site offers one.
- Remove or hide posts that could worry an employer: insults, threats, discriminatory jokes, illegal activity, complaints about named employers or coworkers, and anything that shares confidential work information.
- Make names and photos consistent on accounts you want employers to find, so they are sure they have the right person.
- Close accounts you no longer use.
Hiding everything is not the goal. Public posts that show your interests, volunteering or knowledge of your field can help you.
Your privacy rights
Several states have laws that stop employers from demanding access to your personal accounts. For example:
- New York (Labor Law Section 201-i): employers and potential employers cannot ask for your personal account username or password, or make you open your account in front of them, and cannot refuse to hire you because you said no. The law does not stop internet searches of public information.
- Washington (RCW 49.44.200): employers may not request login information for an applicant's personal social networking account, require you to open it in their presence, make you add them as a contact, or make you change your privacy settings.
- Illinois (Right to Privacy in the Workplace Act): employers may not request, require or coerce your username and password or demand access to your personal online accounts, with limited exceptions.
Rules differ by state, so check your state labor department's website. Anywhere, a public post is public: assume a recruiter may see it.
Fake recruiters and job scams
Scammers use the same networks. The Federal Trade Commission describes these patterns:
- Impersonating real companies. A "recruiter" messages you on LinkedIn or a job site claiming you have exactly the skills a well-known company needs, sends an interview invitation from a personal email address, then an official-looking offer letter with the company's logo, and finally an invoice for equipment to pay by cash, Zelle or PayPal with a promise of reimbursement. The reimbursement never comes.
- Asking for sensitive data early. Requests for your driver's license, Social Security or bank account number before you have been able to ask questions about the job.
- Unexpected text or chat-app offers. Generic messages about jobs by text, WhatsApp or Telegram, sometimes leading to "tasks" such as rating or liking products that later require you to put in your own money.
- Fake checks. You are asked to deposit a check and send part of the money on. The check bounces and the bank wants the money back.
Rules that protect you. Never pay to get a job or to get paid. Verify a recruiter by contacting the company through a phone number or website you find yourself, not one in the message. Do not share sensitive details until you have confirmed the job is real. If you spot a scam, report it to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. More signs are in how to spot job scams.
A 30-minute weekly routine
- Check and answer messages from recruiters (verify first).
- Follow two new target employers and read their latest posts.
- Comment thoughtfully on two posts in your field.
- Reconnect with one former colleague with a short personal note; see networking.
- Update your profile with any new result, course or certificate.
Sources
- New Personal Account Privacy Law (P693), New York State Department of Labor
- RCW 49.44.200, Personal social networking accounts, Washington State Legislature
- Right to Privacy in the Workplace Act, Illinois Department of Labor
- Scammers impersonate well-known companies, recruit for fake jobs on LinkedIn and other job platforms, Federal Trade Commission
- That job offer text is probably a scam, Federal Trade Commission
- Job Scams, Federal Trade Commission