This week’s FAQ seems an appropriate follow up question to my earlier post about what you should and shouldn’t do while representing yourself online. Should you let employers see your social media channels? You might think it’s none of their business, that you’ll share some but not others, or just don’t know. Here are some things to consider in order to help you answer the question:

Social media is a good way to showcase yourself.

Using your social media channels to create an online persona that potential and current employers can interact with is important in this day and age. As I’ve mentioned before, if you’re looking to work anywhere near social media or online marketing, you BETTER have an online presence that displays your experience in a positive way!

If you have nothing to hide, why not?

There is a lot of controversy out there about whether or not your potential employer should have the “right” to see your social media profiles in, before, or after an interview. However, as I read the stories I can’t help but wonder, if you have nothing to hide, why wouldn’t you let an employer see you on social media? Now, I do know that there are exceptions to the rule, but really, I WANT my boss to see that I’m rocking it on Twitter, or that my Pinterest account is driving traffic to my blog. Facebook is admittedly a little trickier; however, think about this: do you want to work for an employer that would judge you for having a great time at dinner with your friends Friday night?

Not doing so could cost you the job.

Again, I realize that this may not hold true for every field out there, but in general, if you keep all your social media channels private you might not get the job. Think about it…if the other candidates are tweeting about information related to the industry, have an awesome Pathbrite portfolio, or even public Facebook posts sharing articles that would interest a recruiter/employer, and you don’t, do you think you’ll get the job?

I’ll let you be the judge. Ultimately, it is your decision whether to share or not, but hopefully this gets you thinking about why it’s probably a really good idea.

What’s your opinion? Tell me in the comments!