Why Hiring Based on Social Media Cred is the Way to Go?

 

A recent article on Business Insider on Sarah Robb O’Hagan, the President of fitness chain Equinox, spurred my interest in writing this article. In the article Sarah says “she doesn’t care about your credentials. She wants to see your Twitter feed”. She goes on to say that the first thing her company does is go to someone’s social platforms to see how they match up. Sure she says I could hire a grad with an amazing GPA but with zero social media credibility or I could hire a grad with an extremely developed social network of 30,000 followers. Now that’s leadership, she says.

I agree with her for the most part, that someone’s social cred is a huge example of how they would perform in the real world. If they have developed a professional presence, invested countless hours in developing the brand and image, developed strong relationships and created buzz, then you have a potential star candidate and employee. So what to look for.

• A strong professional Twitter feed, with many followers in the right industries, who respect the person and or brand.
• A strong LinkedIn feed with a clear view of the person’s brand with many followers in both industry and global presence.
• A personal web site or blog on personal passions and or businesses.
• Other strongly integrated social media sites and apps integrated to develop a consistent brand

So here are some no-no’s that employers will give the thumbs down to.

Explicit language, graphic violence, sexist or degrading comments, bullying, retaliation, excessive alcohol or drug abuse, hard partying are some of the top no-no’s.

Of course, a solid media presence does not guarantee a smart and reliable employee but more and more it’s becoming a key differentiator in the selection process. So employers pay attention to how potential candidates build their social media presence as if they are good at doing this it’s likely that they are entrepreneurs, strong business leaders, communicators and relationship builders. 

So get your electronics locked and loaded and good social media hunting out there.