The document describes two scenarios involving social media use and potential employment. In the first scenario, the narrator is applying for graduate training programs and one company screens social media profiles. The second scenario involves applying for international work opportunities, where two organizations use LinkedIn to connect with applicants. The document asks questions about how to present oneself professionally online and how employers may interpret various social media presences and behaviors.

1. Professional

2. Scenario 1
You are a third year student on the cusp of
graduating. You have been using the
Internet socially since you were a teenager
via chatrooms, gaming and more recently
Facebook. You have already secured first
interviews for graduate training schemes
with two large corporations (A & B), but
are still waiting to hear from the one you
are most interested in (C).

3. A friend tells you they have heard this
company routinely screens potential and
existing employees on the Web, but the two
firms you have interviews with both have a
policy to not screen them. In this worksheet,
if you do not have a profile yourself,
imagine you have one.

4. Company A & B has a policy “not to check”
any of their employees profile on web but
Company C check their potential and
existing employees accounts online

5. Answer the following
questions!

6. What might your existing Facebook
profile say about you if firm C looks at
it?

7. Are there any things that can be seen on
your, wall, or in notes you have posted which
might help encourage firm C to employ you?

8. Conversely, is there anything on your profile
that might put an employer off?

9. If you were in the position of shortlisting
people for interview and your company had
a policy of checking candidates' DIs, how
would you interpret it if it was obvious
someone had just „cleaned up‟ their
profile?

10. How would you feel if the company you
wanted to work for banned use of social
networking sites such as Facebook during
work hours?

11. How, on the other hand, would you
feel if the company you worked for
decided its staff had to use a social
networking site, and to build
customer relationships through it?

12. Also..
Think about after graduation, find out if
background research on potential
employees using web is common in your
country?

13. Scenario 2

14. You are looking for the opportunity to work
abroad for a year. You have avoided being
drawn in to social networking sites,
preferring to spend time with your friends.
You have three organisations that offer
interesting opportunities for a year out, and
you discover from one of your friends that
two of them have been getting in touch with
potential applicants through LinkedIn, a
business social networking site.

15. Continued…
While you were chatting with friends over
coffee, you heard that there are 20 people
applying for each position within the
organisations, so it is going to be quite
competitive.

16. What basic research would you do to try to
determine whether you are more likely to be
successful in your application if you have a
LinkedIn profile?

17. If you choose to create a profile, for the
purposes of enabling the organisations to find
you, what sort of information would you
make available?

18. What do you think it says about you, if you
just create the profile with your academic
achievements and areas of professional
interests?

19. If you were interacting with potential
employees via a social networking
site, how would you see someone who
had created a profile just to interact with
you, or to get your attention?

20. What would you post and where would you do it
from?

21. The content are extracted from „This is me‟.
http://blogs.reading.ac.uk/this-is-me/
Images
 http://scarlettlibrarian.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/professional.jpg
 http://www.zoonar.com/photo/cartoon-wise-owl-with-graduation-cap_3386906.html
 http://www.lorisreflections.com/god-lessons/why-2/attachment/question-mark-2/
 http://www.skylightcentre.co.uk/2011/04/healthy/
 http://transparentwithmyself.wordpress.com/2012/03/15/happy-excited-cant-sleep/
 http://apollonia316.tumblr.com/page/10
 http://www.lawrenceinspections.com/Manufactured-Home-Inspections.html
 http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-photography-cartoon-group-friends-boys-girls-
image27849032
 http://www.schoolforstartups.co.uk/i-have-to-show-you-linkedin/
 https://www.gcx.org/Pamoja/2012/11/12/information-on-local-contact-person/
 http://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-photo-professional-man-cartoon-
image14788435
 http://eddecosta.me/2011/12/29/lets-be-clear-about-resolutions/