Is Social Media Killing Your Career?

It seems like these days you really need to examine and in some cases re-think how you use social media. If you're not careful it could kill your career.

Obviously it goes without saying that you don't want to start doing stupid things like posting a bunch of negative comments about your boss or another co-worker on Facebook or other social media sites. And please tell me you don't have some drunk photos of you out on the town partying online for the entire world to see. That is definitely a bad idea. But things like that are not the only way you can torpedo your career.

Here are five things you might be doing right now that could put your career at risk without you even knowing about it:

• "Liking" stuff all the time. Doing that makes you look like you're wasting time on Facebook clicking the "like" button. Be very careful not to "like" something remotely offensive. Even if it's a joke.

• Having the wrong profile pic. Make sure your profile pic looks presentable, because hiring managers will look you up. Post a professional pic if you want to be viewed as a professional.

• Using one email address for everything. Whatever you do, don't use a casual sounding personal email address at work or on a job application.

• Not having strict privacy settings on your account. Even if you think all your posts are tame and G-rated, you still need to lock your account. If you don't, and there's something questionable posted, it will make you look responsible if someone like your current employer or a would-be boss checks out your account.

• Be careful who you friend. You really need to be careful what friends you choose to interact with on social media. Should someone tag you in an inappropriate photo or write something stupid on your page, it makes you look bad!

Source: MSN Living