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Chicago — Gen Z are discovering that their “digital footprint” could ruin job prospects.
One TikTok user recently went viral after claiming they missed out on a job because of something their potential colleagues had seen them post online, the New York Post reported.
“Me realizing the digital footprint is real because when called for a job interview they loved me but when they did a background check they said they didn’t want to hire me anymore,” the TikTok user, @shoomew, wrote in text over a recent video — with more than 4.1 million views since it was posted in October.”
The high school student, Jayden, was “very shocked and sad even because it was such a good position.”
“This won't change how I post because I feel like I’m already too far gone. Hopefully a TV career will take me instead one day haha,” she said. More than 7,000 users commented on the video, many of whom inquired about how to avoid the same outcome.
Cybercrime expert Chris Southerland Jr. stitched Jayden’s video with tips on how companies find potential candidates online. He said there are “thousands” of tools companies can use to search a prospective employee's history.
“Personally, I am not worried about what I post online whatsoever. If I did want to lock down my online presence, I would use a different real name, username, profile picture, and email for all my different social media accounts,” Southland later told BuzzFeed News. “Additionally, I would not attach a phone number to the [social media] account that was on my résumé and make my accounts private. Lastly, make sure when you Google your name, nothing pops up that you do not want found.”