Skip to main content

Research says Facebook profile pics can affect your job prospects

With more people communicating via social media networks like Facebook, employers have hit the jackpot when it comes to finding out exactly who they want to keep on board and who seems to be more social than employable. From Facebook photos to the way employers manage their personal messages, the Internet has changed the face of employment in the world.

When Facebook made it known that they weren’t going to tolerate any fake names on the site, many people had to rethink their accounts. Using fake names was one way to avoid letting employers or potential employers see what their employees were doing. However, it isn’t the names that people really had to worry about, as much as it was their pictures.

Recommended Videos

According to The Telegraph, research conducted at Ghent University in Belgium revealed that potential employees with the same qualifications spanning two different levels of education had a 40 percent better chance of being hired if their Facebook profile picture featured an applicant fully clothed. Those who were not smiling were less likely to land the first interview even when dressed in business casual clothing.

The trend of employers looking more to social media to conduct any kind of human resource assessment doesn’t stop with profile pictures. A recent court ruling in Europe determined that European employers now have the right to read private messages sent by employees during business hours. It doesn’t stop at Facebook messages but includes all messaging and Web mail systems.

Further, it’s claimed that some employers even ask for passwords to employees’ or potential employees’ Facebook accounts. Because of this reliance on Facebook, the general public is looking for ways to lead a public professional and personal life, without the two causing damage to each other.

The solution may be as easy as creating two profiles. Facebook has recently granted some leniency on the name issue, so making a personal Facebook profile as well as a professional one isn’t as difficult. The next step is to do what people should really be doing in the first place: leave business at the office and personal lives at home.

Christina Majaski
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Christina has written for print and online publications since 2003. In her spare time, she wastes an exorbitant amount of…
Bluesky finally adds a feature many had been waiting for
A blue sky with clouds.

Bluesky has been making a lot of progress in recent months by simplifying the process to sign up while at the same time rolling out a steady stream of new features.

As part of those continuing efforts, the social media app has just announced that users can now send direct messages (DMs).

Read more
Reddit just achieved something for the first time in its 20-year history
The Reddit logo.

Reddit’s on a roll. The social media platform has just turned a profit for the first time in its 20-year history, and now boasts a record 97.2 million daily active users, marking a year-over-year increase of 47%. A few times during the quarter, the figure topped 100 million, which Reddit CEO and co-founder Steve Huffman said in a letter to shareholders had been a “long-standing milestone” for the site.

The company, which went public in March, announced the news in its third-quarter earnings results on Tuesday.

Read more
Worried about the TikTok ban? This is how it might look on your phone
TikTok splash screen on an Android phone.

The US Supreme Court has decided to uphold a law that would see TikTok banned in the country on January 19. Now, the platform has issued an official statement, confirming that it will indeed shut down unless it gets some emergency relief from the outgoing president.

“Unless the Biden Administration immediately provides a definitive statement to satisfy the most critical service providers assuring non-enforcement, unfortunately TikTok will be forced to go dark on January 19,” said the company soon after the court’s verdict.
So, what does going dark mean?
So, far, there is no official statement on what exactly TikTok means by “going dark.” There is a lot of speculation out there on how exactly the app or website will look once TikTok shutters in the US.

Read more