You, Your Social Media Presence, and Gosh Darn It…That Picture You Posted…

By · 01.13.2012 · 6 Comments
Tagged: Candidate Pool, HR (& Life!) Advice, Kelly Dingee, Social Network Analysis · Tagged: , , , , , , ,
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I’m looking at LinkedIn profiles this morning.  I’m actually re-verifying a list of candidates, the organizations they work for and Hoover’s information.  Good fun stuff early on a Friday.  It’s actually pretty tedious. But as I’m clicking and cross referencing, gosh darn it if I don’t see your LinkedIn profile pic.  Post whatever you want on Facebook and use your privacy controls, but when it comes time to network on a site that labels itself a “Professional Network” aka where the people who might hire you hang out…a few common sense rules: a) Don’t use a fake photo – be you – not Bart Simpson, b) Look like you have clothes on.  Seriously.  The tube top is a great fashion item but not on a professional profile, c) No kids.  I like kids; I have some of my own.  But LinkedIn isn’t the place to feature them. Pretty simple, huh?  You’d think.  Some people still don’t get it.  I did a presentation last fall and was highlighting this awesome candidate I found…just the right person for the group of HR pro’s in the room and everyone got hung up on the photo.  Why? Because strapless tops have been in for a while and this woman cropped her photo just so it looked like she had no clothes on.  Totally lost the group on her fabulous credentials because she looked naked.  Ugh.And that’s why you have to think about that photo…because Human Resources professionals are human.  Whether they want to or not, they make judgments within seconds of viewing your profile and if you’ve got a misguided photo, it may get their attention, but it may taint their review of your experience.  Because they’re human.This is just like dressing appropriately for an interview…it’s a first impression.  So clean it up or take it out.  Your call.

FOT Background Check

Kelly Dingee
Kelly Dingee is a Strategic Recruiting Manager for Staffing Advisors. She has extensive sourcing experience having worked for AIRS, as a Sourcing Researcher/Technical Writer, performed contract sourcing for Thales Communications, Inc., and got hers start in the profession while a full life cycle recruiter at Acterna (now known as JDSU).  Lucky for Kelly, she had a boss who could see the potential of sourcing candidates from the web, and in 1998, she stepped into a newly created sourcing role. No truth to the rumor that she has a side business to help you push your resume to the top of Google search results...

6 Comments

  1. Eric Buchanan says:
    01.13.2012 at 3:15 pm

    Great post!

    It may seem like common sense but there ARE some crazy photos on LI.

    It’s certainly a great reminder to make sure LI stays the professional networking site that it is supposed to be.

    Happy Friday!

    Reply
  2. Kris Dunn
    Kris Dunn says:
    01.13.2012 at 3:23 pm

    Kelly –

    I’d like your opinion of a dude that looks like he’s not wearing a top. Is that still a problem?

    Wondering in the suburban Southeast…

    K

    Reply
  3. Kelly Dingee says:
    01.13.2012 at 3:29 pm

    Eric – it’s amazing what people don’t think of….

    Kris – I am amazingly even keeled on this – no one half naked…male or female.

    :)
    Kelly

    Reply
  4. Michelle Rafter says:
    01.13.2012 at 7:35 pm

    Great post. Very early in my journalism career I was the editor of a monthly health-care trade magazine. I wrote a column that appeared in the front of each issue and needed a headshot to run with it. I wore a favorite light green dress the day I got the picture taken – except that it was cotton knit and didn’t have a collar and the photo was in black and white. So when the photo ran I looked like I was wearing a plain white T-shirt. The saddest part of all is I didn’t realize how bad it looked until years later.

    Michelle Rafter

    Reply
  5. Lindsey Gurian says:
    01.17.2012 at 3:10 pm

    Awesome post. I always tell my candidates to realize that anything that goes on thier LinkedIn will be perceived as their “professional” face. That means the people who post pictures of them as babies, or who have cartoon characters in lieu of a professional shot, I shy away from recruiting. It is nice to have Facebook as an outlet for fun, but LinkedIn is a professional forum! Thank you for putting this out there! Hopefully it helps!

    http://blog.openviewpartners.com/author/lgurian/

    Reply
  6. Joel Kimball says:
    01.20.2012 at 4:30 pm

    lulz – because even though I “know better”, my public profiles on Linked In and The Tweeting are me in a ball cap and t-shirt…or sweatshirt, I don’t remember.

    Which I suppose is better than no clothes at all, but…I probably should get a “professional” pic.

    Naaaaaaaaaaah! Would be me! And I do NOT want to think about what I’d look like in a tube top…

    Reply

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