Check Your Facebook Photos

In recent years, I am more and more frequently asked to serve as a reference for people I know as they look for a job or apply to a school. The schools are both undergraduate and graduate schools. Some are public, secular schools. Sometimes they are references for a seminary applicant. The job references range from temporary summer jobs to entry-level positions to attempts to make significant career upgrades and/or moves.

Whenever I am listed as a reference, that means that I know the applicant (hopefully he or she has contacted me regarding the reference listing in advance, if for no other reason than to let me know I may be contacted on their behalf) and it is basically anticipated that I will give the applicant a glowing review. This is the way the process has worked for ages. References almost always say only good things. It's expected.

However, if an employer is looking at potentially hiring you, in effect, investing in you, they should do their due diligence to check out everything they can about you. Think about it this way. Everyone attempts to look their best in an interview or when they walk in to apply for a job. Your references will only say positive things. You will say all the right things in an interview. Your prospective employer should attempt to gain all possible information about you. They may even check to see if you're on Facebook.

So if you are an applicant for a position, at any level, may I make a suggestion? Check your Facebook photos. So many people leave their Facebook photos open to view by any and all. Your Facebook photos show you as you really are. Or as you really were.

If you have "partying" photos from days gone by, and you don't do that anymore because of maturity or a major change of lifestyle, you'd probably be better off to remove those. If, in several of your Facebook photos, you're making silly faces or, even worse, some immature hand gestures that only your close friends know the meaning of (but ones that may look like gang related signs or racial slurs to a prospective employer), that may say something about you.

It might be well worth your time to check your Facebook photos.