Higher Ed Utah

Earlier this year, the Utah Higher Education Assistance Authority (UHEAA) called out to college and high students interested in blogging their college experiences and lessons learned in order to offer future students of higher education first hand facts and advice from today’s real life college setting.  If you are a current college student (Undergraduate or Graduate) or high school student preparing to enter college and are interested in blogging for UHEAA, please send an email to ‘outreach@utahsbr.edu’ and we will gladly send you details.

This edition of the Real Life College Student Blog is by Utah college student, Cole Spicker.  Cole currently studies Chemistry and Spanish and he really enjoys reading, good food and great friends.  Cole admits he is a little “obsessed with education” and “hopes to make lasting, positive contributions to society.”  Facebook’s impacts and changes, both positive and negative, are becoming more apparent (and important) everyday.  Whether you approve or disapprove of your Facebook being viewed as a part of your resume, it is not only important, but vital to be smart about self-presentation and professionalism online.  Especially in social and informational media.  We hope you enjoy this week’s blog on Facebook professionalism!

C’mon Utah…get your act together!  Cold weather, warm weather, rainy weather and snowy weather.  It’s high time that our climate decide on a normal weather pattern and follow it.

I personally believe that remarks on the weather are perfect for social introductions and interactions.  Everyone can contribute, and it requires absolutely no specific field of study.  And it also qualifies me as a geezer.  Anyways…

Speaking of getting acts together, it’s high time you and I took a little time to delve into the mysteries of my friend and yours: Facebook.  First things first, I love Facebook.  I can keep in touch with my friends and family, let the world know of an impending relationship status change, and deny friendship requests from Nigerian princesses who “wanna give me money.”

Sure, Facebook is all fun and games until an employer takes a gander at your profile.  What would your employer find?  Questionable comments or photos?  Outdated or possibly false information about your education, relationship status or work status?  These among other internet-available sources will provide your future employer the first impression of YOU.  I know that sifting through the material on Facebook might seem a formidable task; I assure you that it is worthwhile and will help you succeed!   So do yourself a favor and heed the following:

• Review your privacy settings.  Only allow your friends to view the specifics of your profile.  If your employer is your friend, adjust your settings accordingly.  Remember that in our very small world, limiting your profile might not be enough.  There are many routes through which future employers can view your profile.
• Get rid of and “untag” yourself from any controversial pictures.  Pictures that depict you and your friends engaging in illegal activity should be the first to go.  Similarly, if your profile picture is not professional, upload another one.  Your profile picture should be handsome and boring – something you wouldn’t mind your nice, little grandmother viewing.
• If you have posted a false relationship status, get rid of it!  While it is illegal for employers to discriminate on this basis, it still happens.  The best advice I could give you would be to not list your relationship status at all.  (I can hear the crowds ‘booing’)
• Ensure that your educational background and work information is up-to-date.  It would be absolutely stunning if your information matched your resume.  Be candid with your work description and responsibilities – powerful, yet short and succinct verbiage will be great!  Avoid sugar-coating of any kind.  Employers can see through it and consequently sift future employees from non-future employees.
• Delete content that could be viewed as discriminatory.
• Delete unprofessional (or stupid!) comments from your wall.  Inside jokes usually make up the majority of these comments and should be saved for private messages or, better yet, live and interactive discussion with friends.  (Can I get a “huzzah” for old-fashioned communication?)

I am sure many of you are thinking that my suggestions are fun-hating in nature.  They are.  But such is the world of professionalism.  Follow suit and I am sure you will have a striking and fantastic first impression on your future employer.

Please leave your comments below with any additional suggestions you have on cleaning up a self-destructive Facebook profile.  Thanks for your contribution!

From UHEAA:  As we mentioned in the introduction, Facebook is not only becoming an integral part of your professional resume, it is also making it’s way on to your academic resume.  According to Schools.com, 70 percent of colleges surveyed said that candidates’ Facebook profiles are a medium-to-high priority in the admissions process.  Read more about how Facebook is effecting college admissions.

Check out past editions of the Real Life College Student Blog.

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