Ann Bednarz | September 13, 2010 | Network World
Would you change your digital persona if you were job hunting and knew hiring managers might check out your social media activity? IT pros are split on the issue.
Half of IT workers said they might (22%) or would (28%) modify or delete content on a social media site if they knew a prospective employer was going to review their page as part of the interview process. The other 50% said they wouldn’t alter any content under those circumstances.
The source of the data is Technisource, which provides IT staffing and technology deployment services. This summer the firm polled 508 IT workers, age 20 and older, on the subject of social media use by IT pros.
Most IT pros (82%) use at least one social media site, the study found. The most common social media site among IT professionals is Facebook (used by 87%), followed by LinkedIn (72%), Twitter (31%), Youtube (31%), MySpace (24%) and Classmates.com (20%).
In the minority were 18% of respondents who say they don’t have an account at any social media site. Asked why, the most common reasons cited were: no need (56%), no time (31%), and it’s too much work to keep up with (31%).
On the policy front, there’s no clear consensus on company rules. Asked if their companies have a formal policy regarding the use of social media sites for work, 40% said yes, 38% said no and 22% didn’t know. Just 3% percent of IT workers admit to getting in trouble at work for content posted to a social media site.