Did you know that 60 percent of individuals apparently stalk their ex partners on Facebook? Scary isn’t it. Have you ever “Facebook stalked” someone? Have you ever searched for someone you do not know or used to know to see what they look like now or what is going on in their life? You’re not alone.

Interviewers do this too, and they do it quite often. That is why it is significant to make sure your Facebook account doesn’t give a negative first impression to a potential employer that finds you on Facebook, and that means cleaning up your social media profile.

Cleaning Up Facebook

The following are few tools and strategies to make certain your Facebook page does not prevent you from getting a job

• Professional Picture – First and foremost, make definite that you’ve the most professional photo possible. Even if you update all privacy settings, Facebook still makes it possible to see your social media profile. Make certain what they see is as professional or harmless as possible.
• Professional Cover Photos – Cover photos are almost always public. Make certain you go back and delete or hide any that demonstrate you in a negative light. You don’t necessarily need a cover photo at all, but you will need to make sure that any unprofessional cover photos are hidden from all public view.
• Check the Privacy – Facebook updates its privacy settings all of the time and regrettably that can mean that something you thought was private now is not. So inquire people to visit your profile and search for you and see what they see/find. You might find that some unprofessional post from the year of 2011 is visible to everyone that visits your page, and this is something that requires being hidden.
• Hide All Albums – Go through your albums and restrict access to all of them to “Only Friends.” You might have to do this manually, but it is a very significant part of hiding your personal life from employers. Indeed, if you’ve any albums that are incredibly unprofessional, hide them from friends as well until you get the job. If an interviewer finds a way to access your friend’s profile, you do not need them finding it.
• Check Your “Likes” – You will also need to “unlike” any page, movie, band, etc. that can cause a negative first impression. For instance, say you are a heavy metal fan applying for a job at a seniors center. While there is nothing about your music tastes that should stop you from getting the job, it is not a stretch to consider that that kind of music could leave a negative effect to someone with biases. You should also consider “liking” industry pages to offer the impression you are passionate about your field.

You will also need to observe your profile from every type of setting – friend, friend of friend, and “not friend” to see what they see. If anything unprofessional shows up, hide it or remove it.