By Estefania Torres |Asst. A&E Editor|
Social media has become a significant part of our everyday lives.
It has become so significant that it has unfairly become a platform for employers to evaluate an individual’s professionalism and credibility.
Social media is a personal, and at the same time free space to express oneself in any way he/she chooses to express him/herself.
And no company or businesses should hold it’s employees accountable for the things they post outside of work—they should not determine a person’s competence and skill off of something they are not a part of.
An annual social media recruitment study shows that the percentage of employers that check employees social media has risen from 39 percent in 2013, to 52 just this past year, according to careerbuilder.com
More than half of companies and corporation are checking social medias to see if a person is right for the job or if they should even continue working at their company.
In addition, the study also shows that while 60 percent of companies are looking for positive traits of the individual, 21 have admitted that they are looking for bad ones.
This is not a fair evaluation; this should not be a means to determine a persons credibility especially if he/she are already hired on with the company.
Their is a difference between learning more about a person and crossing into very personal information that is a part from work.
Personal life should never commingle with the work life.
I think an employee’s hard work should not be discounted as a result of what he/she chooses to post on social media.
It seems like social media runs the lives of young adults, especially college students.
People want to express their opinions, show what they ate for lunch, and upload memories from that crazy night partying with friends —and they have all the right to do so.
College students, especially juniors and seniors, need to be more cautious in the content they upload because it can unfortunately prevent them from getting their dream job or fired from their current job.
“I do think about what I am uploading before I actually do it because I know that my future or my current employer can look at it and possibly judge me for it,” said student Cynthia Rojas.
“I do not think it is fair because it is my own personal space and I should upload what I want,” added Rojas.
I have been personally told that I should not upload pictures of myself in a bathing suit because I will lose my credibility as a serious candidate for a job.
In my opinion, a picture of me in a bathing suit at the beach should not determine how professional I am or how well I can do my job.
These things should not interfere with my professional life.
Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and other social media should be considered as a platform for freedom of speech, anyone should have the liberty to upload or post anything they wish to share.
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