As a professional engineer, you probably know it’s best to keep your personal social media profiles private. However, there are ways employers can scan the internet for images, comments and other areas of your social footprint to get a feel for who you are as a person. If you’re looking for a new job, it’s imperative you understand exactly what employers are looking for online, and how that information can help or hurt your chances of getting hired.

Factors That Hurt Your Chances of Getting Hired

There are several common reasons your social media presence may hurt your chances of landing a great engineering job including:

• Negative comments about a past employer. We all have rough days, weeks or even months at work. But your social feed isn’t the place to air your grievances. Hiring managers will assume if you’ve engaged in negative talk before, you’re likely to do it again.
• Derogatory comments to others. We live in a world where employers must have zero-tolerance policies for bullying. If hiring managers see you’ve made derogatory comments regarding a person’s appearance, opinions, age, race, gender, disability or any other factor, you’ll quickly land in the rejection pile.
• Inappropriate photos. It is critical to make sure you’ve scrubbed your accounts of any photos and any tags in other people’s photos that are not completely G-rated and family-friendly.

Factors That Help Your Chances of Getting Hired

Social media isn’t all bad. In fact, it can be a great platform for connecting with recruiters and hiring managers and landing a job. That is, if you’re doing it right and hitting these points:

• Professional profiles: You can keep your personal profiles for staying connected to friends and family, but a professional profile where you share industry information and thought leadership pieces shows you’re committed to your field.
• Engaging with thought leaders: On LinkedIn, and any other professional profile you set up, make sure to follow and interact with thought leaders in your professional niche.
• Publish your own content: Posting your own content on LinkedIn, or creating your own engineering blog and sharing that content online, further reinforces your passion for your work and gives hiring managers a feel for your knowledge and expertise.
• Update your profiles regularly: It’s not enough to just set up professional profiles. Spend a few minutes every day posting, liking, reposting and creating content to keep the blood circulating and your profiles active. As a bonus, the more active you are, the more connections you’ll make.

Are You an Engineer Seeking New Career Opportunities? 

If you are an experienced engineering professional seeking new opportunities and are ready to partner with a recruiter to jumpstart your search, reach out to PEAK Technical Staffing today or submit your resume online for one of our current openings.

About PEAK

PEAK Technical Staffing can help connect you with employers and opportunities that leverage your engineering expertise and advance your career. We partner with employers nationwide who are looking for people with your skills and experience. Since 1968, PEAK has helped engineering professionals find jobs that offer flexibility, challenges and rewards.

Take a look at some of the engineering jobs we offer:

• Manufacturing Engineer
• Mechanical Engineer
• Sr. Project Planner / Scheduler

If you are looking for employers and opportunities that will take your engineering career to the next level and help you to achieve your goals, contact a PEAK recruitment expert today.