September

It’s been weeks since you posted a job application online but till now your inbox remains empty. So, you revise your resume over and over. You follow Elon Musk’s advice to keep it to a page, make it simple, remove your references, and get rid of that “hobbies” section. You write a killer cover letter and beef it up with links to your portfolio. It’s Trump level UHMMAHZING! You resend your resume again…and again…and again. Zilch. You ask yourself: What is missing? What am I doing wrong?

If you find yourself in a similar conundrum, you might want to take a step back and focus away from your resume a bit. A recent online survey by US-based Career Builder showed that 70 percent of employers scan the social media accounts of their applicants for background checking.

In a recent conversation with the head of a top headhunting firm in the country, he told me that prospective employees need to “clean” their Facebook posts first before applying.

“We see everything now and it gives us perspective,” he said. “Their Facebook accounts show us more than what they want us to see in their resumes.”

The easiest thing to do now perhaps is to just keep your entire FB profile private right? Easy. But this is still no guarantee. In fact, if you send a friend request or a simple message to a “private” account would you “…will have temporary access to view a small portion of your profile. They will see Basic Info, Personal Info, Work Info, Education Info, and Friends.” That’s from FB’s Help Page.

The fact of the matter is, whether we like it or not, our Facebook profiles have become our online resume. This means, a lot of job hunters need to be extra careful about what they post on their personal account because these could potentially ruin their chances for an interview. So what do you do then?

Below are my suggestions on how to turn your Facebook into an online resume:

Screen all posted photos.

Even when your profile is private, a quick search to your name will yield the first vital clue to who you are: your profile picture.

Unless you’re applying as an underwear model, you might want to reconsider keeping that swimsuit picture. Topless photos for men during the summer season is expected, forgivable, but it shouldn’t be an all-year-round thing.

At least when you’re still applying for a job, hide or delete incriminating photos that you have. Be mindful of your captions as well. Invest in a good photo that you can post on your profile: it must be in high-resolution, preferably well-dressed, no distracting elements other than your bright smile.

Edit your profile.

You wonder why you’re still jobless? It’s because you remain to work at “Krusty Crab” and “eH di Sa PusO mo!!!” Stop. Please, just no.

You want to enter the corporate world? Be more professional. Fill out your “About Section” as you would your resume. Be factual. Link to relevant pages. In your “Featured Photos” choose images that will describe your personal and professional life. Preferably fully clothed.

Have you gone on an educational fellowship abroad? Have you received any awards? Did you get invited for a talk? Highlight those pictures or reshare them. Throw in a little #ThrowbackThursday in the photo for context. If you want to humblebrag about something, do so strategically.

Remove all political posts.

Whether you’re yellow or a DDS remove all political posts from your Facebook page (at least while you are hunting for a job). Your dream employer might turn out to be from the other side of the political fence and if he sees you from the opponent’s side, good luck.

I’ve heard several HR personnel tell me: “He’s competent and a good candidate for the position but he’s a DDS…” or “…he’s dilawan.”

I’m not telling you to refrain from being political if you are passionate about it. Fine, sure, go practice your right to freedom of expression. But employers may judge your entire competence for the job based on your political bias. And should that be the entire definition of who you are? Think about it.

Review what you shared.

Sharing is caring, as Barney said. In social media however, what you share is also an extension of your beliefs, sentiments, and opinions. No words are needed. So be careful about sharing content that might bring a negative light to your character.

Make your profile public.

After you’ve “cleaned” your profile, you should share it publicly. Yes Virginia, be open about it. Nothing screams confidence to an employer than unrestricted access to your profile page. Weird, right? But when employers see that you are unafraid to share your personal information, they may feel that you can be trusted. It’s that level of disclosure that warrants people’s trust. But again, it’s all up to you at this point, job hunter.

Rightly or wrongly, your Facebook profile has become the most visible online representation of who you are. I have been telling people over and over that you can create two profiles if you want: one for your closest friends/loved ones (preferably under 300) and another one that you can share publicly. The main thing to consider is that, online, you CAN control your narrative and self-image. Now, what that image is, is all up to you. But, from now on, be more strategic with your post and please, take down your topless profile pics. It’s Habagat season for chrissakes, you might just end up with a cold.

AggregateIQ, a small Canadian company, was deemed to be in breach of GDPR guidelines when it was found to be linked to Cambridge Analytica, the firm that allegedly used Facebook data to aid Donald Trump's political campaign.

The UK's Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) states that AggregateIQ must cease processing personal data of UK or EU citizens obtained from UK political organisations or otherwise for use in political compaigning, data analytics or advertising.

Verifile’s clients are scattered around the world. No matter where you are based, you are likely to recruit individuals with varying backgrounds. Perhaps they grew up in Brazil, studied in France and worked in New York before coming to work for you in Sydney?

At Verifile we speak over 14 languages and are delighted to recently have increased our German and French speaking team members.

Background checks are important no matter where someone has previously lived. Verifile has an extensive range of international criminal, credit, driving licence, directorship, identity and company credit checks, to help fulfil your international screening needs.

What are these checks?
Verifile's range of 6 international checks cover the main requirements for international background screening:
 

SERVICE	TYPICALLY INCLUDES
Criminal Check	Criminal convictions obtained from police, government ministries and bureaus, courts and/or embassies.
Credit / Financial Check	Bankruptcy, defaults, disqualifications, judgements, voluntary arrangements, directorships, payment history, addresses and/or shareholding.
Directorship Check	Current directorships, past directorships, dates of appointment, shareholdings, functions and/or disqualifications.
Identity Verification	Name, date of birth, current addresses, previous addresses, passport validity, identification numbers and/or tax numbers.
Driving Record Check	Driving licence status, entitlements, restrictions, traffic offences, suspensions and/or disqualifications.
Company Report	Identification, credit risk rating, registry date, legal filings including bankruptcy, court judgements and tax liens, management and staff, board of directors, share capital, shareholders, financial accounts and/or payment punctuality.

These checks are provided on a per jurisdiction basis. The scope of check, availability, process requirements and pricing vary according to jurisdiction.

When should I order these checks?
Best practice is to undertake the same checks on all new joiners. You may decide to have screening tiers, for example, screen high risk roles more extensively, but it is important to undertake the same checks irrespective of where the joiner has previously lived.

So, if your screening policy requires you to undertake a UK credit and criminal check, you should also undertake these checks in other countries if your new joiner has recently moved from another country to the UK.

How do I place orders for international checks?
Each check has its own instructions. Sometimes an application form will need to be filled in by the candidate. Contact our Client Service Team on +44(0)1234 339 350 or via service@verifile.co.uk to request the check instructions.

When you have filled in the required forms and collected any other information or documents, you can place your international screening order online. Please note this applies only if your user account has ordering of international checks enabled. If not you can email the scanned forms to service@verifile.co.uk. If the instructions ask you to post us original forms or documents, please always tell us by phone or email what you have posted to us and when.

If you have screening packages and our enhanced service level, then we can review your candidates’ backgrounds and automatically proceed with or gain approval for international checks. For example, if a candidate has lived in a country for 6 months or more during the last 5 years, then a credit and criminal check will be undertaken in that country. This is one of many service customisations available to you, please contact your Account Manager or our Client Service Team for more information.

What information do I or my candidate need to supply?
The instructions for each check will explain if an application form needs to be filled in and if any other information needs to be provided. Please do follow instructions carefully and encourage your candidates to do the same. Forms must be filled in fully to avoid delays. Simple errors such as candidates adding today’s date into a date of birth section can really slow down processing times. All forms, document copies, original documents and other information should be provided together, to us at the same time.

Can I keep the instructions on file so I have them when I need to order the same check again?
Instructions and forms change from time to time because the authorities providing results can change their requirements, and often do so without any advance notice. We advise against keeping instructions and forms on file for this reason. If you do decide to do this, then please be aware that if the form has been replaced by a newer version we will ask you to fill in the newer version as authorities will not normally accept old forms.

How long will results take?
Turnaround times vary significantly between checks, countries and the authorities supplying results. Guide turnaround times can be found on our Product/Price Lists (links are below). These guide times start from when we receive all of the information required to process the checks and not necessarily from when you placed your order.

What results can I expect?
Results are provided via our online client portal. Most results are included within the final report, but some detailed results are provided in attachments that can be downloaded separately. When we receive official certificates from authorities, such as the French criminal certificates, these will be made available to you. Sometimes results are provided to us in other ways such as via online portals. These results are always passed on to you as Verifile reports.

​Want to find out more?
Please click below:

• Criminal
• Credit / Financial
• Directorships
• Identity Verification
• Driving Licence
• Company Credit Checks

Or check out our services page for country specific check information.

We can also verify employment, education and professional qualification, plus collect character/professional references from anywhere in the world.

Please contact our Client Service Team on +44(0)1234 339 350 or speak to your Account Manager if you would like any further information.