Employers say to bring your “whole, authentic self” to work, but are they really ready for us? Every thing about us? 

We may or may not feel pressure to code-switch at work, but when the clock strikes 5, we step into ourselves. And my authentic self lives a culturally Black life – free from the expectations of “professionalism,” an idea based on eurocentric ideals.

In response to a 2018 survey by CareerBuilder, even your next employer may be lurking in your profile. In truth, 70% of employers said they research candidates by reviewing what they post on their social media accounts. 

That’s not all: 57% of firms said they’ve passed on a candidate due to their social media, with 40% of that group claiming the candidate posted something inappropriate or provocative.

This data provokes critical questions across the judgment of Black culture by our non-Black counterparts. Is playing Mas at Carnival “provocative”? How about reposts of assorted gems from Black Twitter, sharing social commentary of our Black shows, music, and artists?

While I don’t imagine employers or potential employers should base their decisions on the non-public lives of their candidates, the uncomfortable truth is that what you post publicly creates a chance for others to form opinions about you. 

The excellent news is that you’ve the facility to implement boundaries over the sort of access people need to you. There are different levels of privacy settings, and depending in your priorities or goals, you could select one over one other. Let’s explore different levels of access and the way to protect your peace and privacy at work.

OPTION 1: NO ACCESS

If privacy is your biggest concern, the perfect approach to keep unwanted eyes off what you do in your personal time is to go completely private.

I ran a recent LinkedIn post asking, “Do you permit your colleagues to follow you on social media?” Out of 955 responses, 46% said they might not allow their colleagues to follow them, while 34% said it depends upon the circumstance or their relationship with their coworkers.

While you can’t control whether or not others decide to look you up – with a faucet of just a few buttons, you’ll be able to implement boundaries with who you permit to follow you on social media or make it substantially harder for them to search out and access your profile. To maintain employers from viewing your personal social media account, you’ll be able to disable searchability features or use a special email out of your skilled name.

There may be one exception you may intend to make, and that is in your Linkedin profile. I implore you to set your profile to public on LinkedIn for recruiters and hiring managers to access your profile. Do know that it is straightforward for somebody to view your activity on LinkedIn (including what you want, what you comment on, etc.) so keep that in mind as you engage on that platform.

Now, what happens if having a social presence may be useful to your profession?

OPTION 2: SOME ACCESS

In some industries, a public social presence can profit one’s earning potential or land them additional opportunities. If so for you, a technique could possibly be to administer two pages: one page to publicly display your work or content you’re comfortable showcasing to potential colleagues, employers, or clients, and a separate, private page in your close circle.

Tameka Bazile, a social strategist, follows this method: “I include my social links within the applications and mention through the interview that I’m a content creator or influencer; why shouldn’t that be an achievement a possible employer recognizes? I feel it’s fair if it’s left as much as the candidate to incorporate their accounts of their portfolio or application or not.”

But what if making any of your profiles private just doesn’t feel authentic to you?

OPTION 3: FULL ACCESS

In case you select to maintain a public profile, I’d suggest scrubbing your social media profile of posts that you simply don’t feel comfortable together with your current or future employers seeing. You can even begin to utilize a more gated feature, like Instagram’s close friends feature, for more personal content.

Most significantly, know your rights to guard yourself from wrongful termination out of your job. While the first amendment protects your right to freedom of speech from the federal government, know that it doesn’t apply to personal employers. Every state has different employment laws and protections around social media privacy, so I encourage you to research your state!