Who Shows Up?

In 2014, as I wrote the initial draft of Get Beyond Your Troubled Past, I included a section on social media and one's online presence. I wrote the book to help background-challenged persons get back into the workforce, and I had many examples of clients' old posts and online commentary coming back to haunt them. Thus, in some cases, a review, if not a complete scrubbing, of all the old and no longer applicable material was needed for a fresh start.

That was ten years ago, and as far as old things coming back to bite, well, nothing has changed, not only people reentering, but for everyone. Expect interested parties to check you out on the web. If they find weird or inappropriate material, it will hurt your chances of landing the job you are out to get.

But there's a new wrinkle in the fabric. We're now in the digital on-roids AI era, which puts us far beyond old posts, pictures, and text that could place someone in a bad light. New tools and platforms pop up daily (again, we are barely out of the gate on this), making it possible to construct digital personas that aren't anywhere close to the creator. Much of this is done for fun and sharing with friends and family. It's all good, but that's not what I'm getting at in this post.

What I’m focused on here falls under the heading of "enhancement," tweaks and subtle embellishments to one's social media bio, profile, resume, and related materials that come together to give an impression that is not an accurate representation of what someone will find when they meet the person (creator) face to face.

Indeed, some of this is inevitable, as most of us will try to put our best foot forward when interviewing for a new job or meeting someone in a business setting. But there's more happening here, and it involves the all-important first impression. When someone, say, a hiring manager or interviewer, reviews an applicant, they form a digitally-based impression of the person—they get to "know" them digitally. If the candidate moves forward in the hiring process, there will be a virtual or face-to-face meeting. Here's where the rubber meets the road.

The interview process will proceed if the digital persona and the actual person align. Suppose they are way off, to an exaggerated or absurd extent, the interview is over, full stop. The actual harm comes via the middle space, between complete alignment and out-and-out misrepresentation. If there's some degree of incongruence, even slight, between the digital you and the actual face-to-face you, a red flag pops up in the interviewer's mind, perhaps unconsciously.

Suppose you are the only candidate (or the only one left). In that case, the interviewer may move past any vague concerns or schedule another interview with a colleague to get their input. However, if you are one of a handful of candidates under consideration, you may not make it to the next round—even though you matched up well with the others, there was “something” not quite right about you. The interviewer has to shave down the list, and you are out.

What exactly "wasn't right" will be lost in the shuffle. You will receive a softly worded rejection, "We've decided to move ahead with other candidates…" you won't have any idea about any of this, and most likely, neither will the interviewer.

The moral of this developing story is that aspiring candidates, reentry or otherwise, should be aware that this could happen. If life in digital land is your thing, take stock. Consider how you use AI digital enhancement tools, ensuring the actual you and the digital you are aligned. Know this: it will get worse; there's a firehose of AI-powered digital tools headed your way. And with them, all manner of easily tweaked digital personas.

I recommend a minimal (thoughtfully considered) social media presence for those reentering with significant background challenges. Hopefully, a helper or family member will be available to review and guide them in this respect. However, for everyone else, those unburdened (and therefore perhaps less vigilant) by the constraints of big life bumps, well, I foresee potential problems.

Things that fly in the digital, virtual world can and will cause snags in the real world. Stay alert for things (slight and subtle) that are easily overlooked and can work against you.

My approach is process-oriented and designed for alignment because this is where the reentering candidate finds success. The same goes for all of us. When there's something out of alignment, red flags pop up.

So, be aware and be careful.

Onward!