Social media is fun. It is part of us. It is very useful in interacting and connecting with strangers, friends and family. It is a great channel of networking for some people and in fact has launched them into new career heights, but for some others, it has done otherwise.

Social media has also grown to be a means of how recruiters find and qualify candidates, and it rests on you as candidate to cultivate a professional online presence. You should avoid these social media mistakes too:

1. Using Nick names: One of the first actions of hiring managers is to check out your profile on social media. Many people do not have their real names on their profiles. This is bad, as it hinders hiring managers to check you out online. Also, using nick names gives your profile an unprofessional look and makes you look childish. For instance, names such: Opeyemi – 'Horpeyemi', Oluwafemi – Holuwharfemmy, etc should be avoided on your social accounts. You may use it for other purposes, perhaps imprinting it on your shirts or for other fancy things, but it is best you leave it out of your corporate profile.

2. Drinking and profanity: We should all have time to relax and hang out with friends, and share these photos on social media, but when you (as an applicant) has numerous photos of where you're drinking and doing profane things, the interviewer is probably going to throw your resume into the trash can.

3. Lack of social media presence: In this age? Oh no. Not to have a social presence is the worst thing for a job applicant. It can absolutely hurt your chances of being recognized and, ultimately, hired.

4. Complaining About Your Job or Boss: Putting your complaints out there for the world to see is never the way to go, especially when you have something to say about your job or your boss. Even when you think your posts are safe from your boss, a colleague might be able to forward it to him or her. Don't try that. Even if that one comment doesn't hurt your job now, it could come back to haunt you later. A future potential employer might see it and decide that you're not worth hiring since you've badmouthed your employers in the past.

5. Sharing Your Latest Job Offer: We are all eager to share exciting news of a job offer, but sometimes they are very confidential. Just because you have the job offer doesn't mean it's a sure thing, and if you break that confidentiality right off, your employer may see you as untrustworthy and revoke the job offer. And of course, don't say anything negative about the job offer.

6. Poor Grammar/Using Texting Language: Some of the youths nowadays have resorted to shortening words and clipping languages. No idioms. No proverbs. No elegance. No language elements that smoothen communication. It might seem like no big deal to use texting language on social media, but chances are you're better off spelling everything out. Otherwise, you could be losing jobs because of it. Poor grammar definitely puts employers off.

7. Posting Foul Comments: Keep your social media sane. It takes hard work, but make sure you do it. Any comment meant to offend another person or group could cost you your job. Whenever you are on the internet, avoid posting offensive comments, even if they're meant as a joke. People are reading and watching you.

8. Don't misrepresent yourself: Don't tell people what you are not. Much of what you share online is part of building your image and profile, whether it's true to yourself or not. But when it comes to your job search, recruiters might look to your social media profiles to discover who you really are outside of a professional interview.

9. Complaining about your customers: Like complaining about your boss, complaining about your customers can have equally poor effects. It projects your company in a bad light. Most employers won't stand for that. Avoid this.

http://www.newshelm.com/2016/09/9-social-media-mistakes-that-can-damage.html

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Noted.