Your negative posts on social media may hurt your job search

It never hurts to think before you speak—or in this case, post—because your future boss could be lurking in your social media accounts.

Not that they care about what you had for dinner, or how you look like behind a screen-licking dog filter.

“Employers may look at social media, so be careful what you post,” Philip Gioca, JobStreet country manager cautioned at the Baliuag University Student Congress. “If you’re posting a bad image of yourself, employers might just pick it up,” he added. “It can influence their hiring process.”

Though your profile is, ideally, your own personal space, social media has paved the way for acquaintances to see you beyond the pleasantries. That includes the unguarded moments when you shriek profanities.

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And, you gotta believe this guy: the site represents Southeast Asia’s largest online employment company, which currently caters to 4.8 million candidates and 22,000 corporate customers in the Philippines alone.

During the same event, recruitment specialists from top companies also weighed in.

Judy Chua, senior human resources manager for corporate recruitment at SM Supermalls, admitted to checking an applicant’s social media accounts when she has extra time. She does deeper research on social media when she has doubts about a candidate after the interview.

“If you have a negative post online, it may come up in the future and affect you, especially if you go for a very sensitive position,” she said.

She acknowledged that some employers may understand that people blow off steam by posting about life’s minutiae. But not all employers, she noted, are that open‑minded.

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Checking social media accounts could be a practice that does not apply to industries that mass hire, such as the business process outsourcing.

But at the same time, Kristine Racella, talent acquisition manager at VXI, recognizes social media posts as a measure of an applicant’s stress tolerance.

“As much as I want to, I just don’t have the luxury to do check every social media account,” she said, adding that her firm recruits about 1,500 new hires a month. “But if I can, why not? If that’s gonna be a filter or an indicator of an applicant’s qualification.”

Still, would you risk a 140‑character tweet that could trump the 20 years you spent at school?