Need a Job? Clean Up Your Facebook

With unemployment rates through the roof (for various reasons), it can seem like a daunting task to find a job in the current market. Want to get an advantage over the other applicants? Then you better make sure that your online profiles are clean, starting with Facebook.

Many (if not most) employers now use search engines to check on candidates for jobs. Do you wonder what they might find? Google yourself. You'll find that your social media profiles (and most likely Facebook) will appear at or near the #1 slot. (To make sure that these results aren't influenced by your activity, add "&pws=0" to the end of the URL in your address bar, without the quotes of course.)

Now, would you hire yourself based on what you see? Answer honestly.

If your profile shows you participating in illegal activities, you just lost points with your job prospect. If your profile shows pictures from that night that you thought you were the Queen of Karaoke, you just lost points with your job prospect. If you post a lot of inappropriate jokes, you just lost points with your job prospect. If your profile contains nude photos of yourself, you... well... that might depend.

To land a job in today's competitive market, you must make sure that what a potential employer finds out about you on Facebook will paint you in a favorable light. This means that you shouldn't be posting rants about your current employer if you are in the market for a new job.

If you keep your profile clean and showcase your job skills, legitimate interests (i.e. quit "liking" every funny page that comes along), writing skills (lose the l33t speak, overused acronyms, and emoticons), and career history, you will be well on your way to standing out a bit from the rest of the applicants for that job that you really want.