How does having an account on Facebook and LinkedIn matter during hiring? (Social Media)

Many employers like to use LinkedIn as a tool to track your background, to see where you're coming from, if you have any recommendations, and who you know. So it's often a quick way for an employer to learn a little bit more information about you.

Now, Facebook can do the same thing, but Facebook is not as well designed to help an employer understand your positive work attributes. So Facebook information can often be a drawback for employment and in fact often employers are just looking to see whether you have anything on Facebook that makes you look like a bad employee, whether there are things that you say that can be considered unprofessional or express disdain for certain groups.

Really they can be used so that potential employers can check the box and say, "Okay, this person looks professional and they have a good positive image per LinkedIn, and there is nothing negative about them on Facebook."

Additional Resources:

• Social Media Do's & Don'ts
• Optimizing Your LinkedIn Page
• Social Media Updating Tips for Your Job Search