Skip to main content

Research says Facebook profile pics can affect your job prospects

404754 autosave v1 3 job interview racorn 123rf
racorn/123RF

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.

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…
Twitter CEO claims platform had best day last week
A stylized composite of the Twitter logo.

Twitter CEO Linda Yaccarino tweeted on Monday that despite the current fuss over Meta’s new and very similar Threads app, Twitter had its largest usage day last week.

Subtly including the name of Meta’s new app, which launched to great fanfare last Wednesday, Yaccarino did her best to sing Twitter’s praises, tweeting: “Don’t want to leave you hanging by a thread … but Twitter, you really outdid yourselves! Last week we had our largest usage day since February. There’s only ONE Twitter. You know it. I know it.”

Read more
Meta brings cartoon avatars to video calls on Instagram and Messenger
Meta's cartoon avatars for Instagram and Messenger.

The pandemic was supposed to have made us all comfortable with video calls, but many folks still don’t particularly enjoy the process.

Having to think about what to wear, or how our hair looks, or even fretting about puffy eyes following another bout of hay fever can sometimes be a bit much, even more so if it’s an early-morning call and your brain is still in bed.

Read more
Twitter is now giving money to some of its creators
A lot of white Twitter logos against a blue background.

Some Twitter users are now earning money via ads in the replies to their tweets.

New Twitter owner Elon Musk announced the revenue-sharing program in February, and on Thursday some of those involved have been sharing details of their first payments.

Read more