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.

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…
I paid Meta to ‘verify’ me — here’s what actually happened
An Instagram profile on an iPhone.

In the fall of 2023 I decided to do a little experiment in the height of the “blue check” hysteria. Twitter had shifted from verifying accounts based (more or less) on merit or importance and instead would let users pay for a blue checkmark. That obviously went (and still goes) badly. Meanwhile, Meta opened its own verification service earlier in the year, called Meta Verified.

Mostly aimed at “creators,” Meta Verified costs $15 a month and helps you “establish your account authenticity and help[s] your community know it’s the real us with a verified badge." It also gives you “proactive account protection” to help fight impersonation by (in part) requiring you to use two-factor authentication. You’ll also get direct account support “from a real person,” and exclusive features like stickers and stars.

Read more
Here’s how to delete your YouTube account on any device
How to delete your YouTube account

Wanting to get out of the YouTube business? If you want to delete your YouTube account, all you need to do is go to your YouTube Studio page, go to the Advanced Settings, and follow the section that will guide you to permanently delete your account. If you need help with these steps, or want to do so on a platform that isn't your computer, you can follow the steps below.

Note that the following steps will delete your YouTube channel, not your associated Google account.

Read more
How to download Instagram photos for free
Instagram app running on the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5.

Instagram is amazing, and many of us use it as a record of our lives — uploading the best bits of our trips, adventures, and notable moments. But sometimes you can lose the original files of those moments, leaving the Instagram copy as the only available one . While you may be happy to leave it up there, it's a lot more convenient to have another version of it downloaded onto your phone or computer. While downloading directly from Instagram can be tricky, there are ways around it. Here are a few easy ways to download Instagram photos.

Read more