Not So Average Mama

North Dallas Texas Mom Blog

  • About
  • Privacy Policy
  • Disclosure
  • Advertising Info
  • Email
  • Start Here
  • Around Our House
    • Homeschool
    • Minimalist
    • Words of Wisdom
    • She’s Crafty
    • Monday Molly
    • Recipes
    • Uncategorized
  • Did You Know?
    • I’m So Cheap
      • Coupons!
  • Contests

4 Most Common Things Employers Look for Online

07.10.2013 by Girl on Fire // 1 Comment

Today’s employers don’t have to rely on your references to find out what kind of person you are. They can just search for you online. Here are four common things employers look for while they search for your potential skeletons-in-the-closet.

1. Comments About Your Job

Many companies keep an eye on what their employees write online. Posting something negative about your job on Facebook or in a blog could put you in hot water. It could even get you fired.

One snarky barista in Georgetown, WA lost his job after his employer discovered that he had published comments about customers and management online. His boss presumably fired him for posting comments while working, but it seems pretty likely that he didn’t like what had been written about him.

A waiter at California Pizza Kitchen also claimed that he lost his job for complaining online about the restaurant’s uniforms. If you’re going to post comments about work,  you should make sure you use a pseudonym to protect your identity. Even then, you run a risk.

2. What You Do Away From Work

Description: http://farm2.staticflickr.com/1237/701752375_bf3a081739.jpg

Image via Flickr by Guerretto

Employers can also use social media to make sure you aren’t giving them a bad name during your day off. It hardly matters what kind of job you have. Employers don’t want to find evidence of things like drug use, excessive drinking, illegal activities, or crassness.

Consider that Gilbert Gottfried lost his job as the Aflac duck’s voice when he tweeted jokes about the 2011 tsunami that ravaged Japan. It took the company about an hour to kick him to the curb.

Some employers avoid these investigations because they worry about the legality of firing someone for anything other than job performance. Apparently some companies disagree. You can play it safe by watching videos by Reputation.com that will help you learn how to clean up your online image.

3. Job Experience and Education

Social networking profiles often list a person’s work and educational history. It’s easy for employers to compare your résumé with this information. If they suspect that you didn’t actually earn that degree in business or that you didn’t leave your last job amicably, then they might choose to give a position to someone who looks more legitimate.

4. Talents That They Can Use

Employers aren’t always looking for a reason to fire you. Sometimes they research current employees to learn more about their talents and skills. That way, they can get more out of their workers.

Just because you were hired for one job doesn’t mean that the company wants to keep you there. If human resources finds out that you frequently post insightful comments about things like computer programming, technology, or communications, then they might recruit you for a different position. After all, it often makes more sense to promote someone from within than spend the time and money hunting for a new person.

If you work in HR, explain why you do or do not use social media when researching employees. Have you ever found useful information that made you think differently about one of your workers?

Guest post by Amanda Brown

Related Posts

  • Why EMTs Are So ImportantWhy EMTs Are So Important
  • What Would a Site Owner Buy First If She Had $1 Billion?What Would a Site Owner Buy First If She Had $1 Billion?
  • Tools for Business, Large and SmallTools for Business, Large and Small
  • Building a Global Ecommerce SMBBuilding a Global Ecommerce SMB
  • 5 Surprising Ways To Make A Living For Puzzle-Solvers5 Surprising Ways To Make A Living For Puzzle-Solvers
  • Why Surgical Tech Jobs Are Best For Organized MomsWhy Surgical Tech Jobs Are Best For Organized Moms
The following two tabs change content below.
  • Bio
  • Latest Posts
My Twitter profileMy Facebook profileMy Google+ profileMy Instagram profileMy Pinterest profile

Girl on Fire

Photographer at Loudmouth Photography
Brandy is the wife to a carpenter/musician and the mother of 3 amazingly awesome homeschool/unschooled girls. Brandy is a Photographer as well as a Coach for the Weebellion as part of Rolling Rebellion Jr. Roller Derby. Brandy is passionate about many things and suffers from a very painful and degenerative neurological disease called CRPS/RSD.
My Twitter profileMy Facebook profileMy Google+ profileMy Instagram profileMy Pinterest profile

Latest posts by Girl on Fire (see all)

  • Hey, it’s been a minute… - April 14, 2025
  • Benefits of Dual Diagnosis Treatment - January 25, 2023
  • How to Help Family With Mental Health Issues? - January 3, 2023

Categories // Did You Know? Tags // Employers, jobs, online, working

Comments

  1. Tammy Benson-O'Brien says

    July 13, 2013 at 10:26 am

    Glad I’m uber qualified for my current job! MOM!

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Check out my new site Habitually Awesome!

internet marketing

Not So Average Mama is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Not So Average Mama also uses other affiliate programs to earn commissions. When you click on links in my posts and make a purchase, I may earn a commission. Please see my disclosure.

trendy baby clothes

Email Subscribe

Wanting to Connect with Other Moms?

Join the Cafemom community and meet moms sharing ideas, swapping articles and posting pictures.

© 2025 · Not So Average Mama ·

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.Ok