#digitalprofessional

This seminar built upon knowledge concerning the blurring of boundaries between the personal and professional life online. 'Cybervetting' is the process of using the Internet to gather information on potential employees (Berkelaar, Scacco and Birdsell, 2014). However, the information gathered by employers was not necessarily shared or intended for them (Solove, 2008).

It is no surprise that the Internet has fuelled the practice of 'cybervetting.' Previously employers would evaluate potential employees through CVs, but now they have a wealth of information online about a person's identity and non-work context. Employers have long wanted this type of information to develop an understanding of personality, but it has never been cost or time effective to seek (Berkelaar and Buzzanell, 2015). The internet and ubiquitous nature of online activities have changed this. While the desire to seek may not be new, fulfilling it is.

Berkelaar and Buzzanell (2015) argue that employers use social media pages to evaluate professionalism amongst other aspects of personality. Zurich (2014) commented that personality is attractive on profiles. There seems to be a large contradiction here; do employers want personality or professionalism?

Social media platforms are places where users can asynchronously manage and display their personal appearance and identity. For me, the importance of personal should be stressed. These sites are places upon which people should be able to reveal their personal identity. From talking to classmates, my peers are beginning to manage and 'lock-down' the way they use social media. They are taking measures such as keeping a close eye on privacy settings and changing profile names. Limiting the amount of personal information that is shared. When employers are 'cybervetting', they are looking to see the personality that is being locked down in favour of professionalism. I have even fallen victim to 'cybervetting' myself to ensure I give off the 'right' image before an interview. Employers are looking for evidence of an electable personality with a curated public image and values alignment (Berkelaar and Buzzanell, 2015). While employers seek such information, it also seems like the beginning of a journey to an online everyman population where people are afraid to harness social media platforms and be themselves.

Therefore, I began considering what I could loose and what I could gain from an increasingly managed digital profile. Initially, I felt I would need to enlist a tradeoff between my personal and professional life. However, I realised this need not be the case. My personal interests are aligned with the industry I hope to work in, I am not part of any extremist groups and don't hold any similar views, overall I feel I have a good understanding and sense of who I am. While I am going to manage my digital relationships more carefully and use LinkedIn to develop professional connections and a professional profile. I feel that my social media pages are appropriate to my personal life and although I have utilised privacy settings, any information on my SM pages I feel is not detrimental to my future career.

Berkelaar, B. L., & Buzzanell, P. M. (2015) Online Employment Screening and Digital Career Capital Exploring Employers’ Use of Online Information for Personnel Selection. Management Communication Quarterly : McQ . 29(1), pp.84-113

Berkelaar, B. L., Scacco, J. M., & Birdsell, J. L. (2014). The worker as politician: How online information and electoral heuristics shape personnel selection and careers. New Media & Society. pp.1-20.