The 5 Top Reasons Your CV Gets Shredded Number 2

So – you’ve made it past the first hurdle – your CV looks good, is easily read and the relevant info is all in the right places.

So – why else might it make the shredder rather than the ‘yes’ pile.
Social Media

Yes – we all know Facebook is where you communicate with friends, and what is said between friends remains between friends right? NO. SO SO WRONG!

Any recruiter, HR person or hiring manager worth their salt will be googling you to see what comes up. If the first thing they find is your FB profile which is full of photos of you throwing up on a Saturday night, or looking the worse for wear, or snogging various randoms (Snogging is Manchester for kissing btw), then it is not going to create the best possible picture in their mind of you as a future employee.

And – yes we all know it shouldn’t matter – that’s not work is it. But let me put it this way – if I ask you NOT to think about a pink elephant with a big glittery blue bow round its neck – what are you seeing in your head?

Exactly

So – if I see a picture of you blind drunk on a Saturday night – or maybe lots of different variations of that shot – what do I see in my minds eye? Yes exactly – me taking a phone call on a Monday morning to say you are not “feeling” very well, or you are coming down with a “migraine”, or you ate something “dodgy” at the Indian last night.

Yeah right! Do I LOOK like I was born yesterday? (Not with those wrinkles…as my lovely daughter would say).

So – really. Have a serious think about what you post online. It never really goes away you know – even if you delete it. And at the very least have a profile not open to strangers. Or consider having 2 – a ‘the world can see this one, easily found, public profile’ and a ‘this is just for the people I love and trust’ (if you think that is ever a good idea. More on that point another time)

So don’t under estimate the importance of this point. Ignore it at your peril. Get it right and you have just evened the odds of getting though to a short list.

Click here for part 3