Social Media Presence for Private Household Employees
Love it or hate it, social media is an intricately-woven part of the fabric of our lives. Most of us use it every day, and when searching for a new job or to fill a vacant role, it can provide detail and insight beyond what was available before it became ubiquitous.
For candidates, social media allows them to research a potential employer and other employees of the organisation, and so to gain not only an edge at interview but a better idea of how well they might fit in within the workplace.
These candidates will have a social media presence of their own, and it’s this that we want to focus on. For those who work, or aspire to work, in ultra-high net worth (UHNW), or similar, households it’s really important to keep at the forefront of their minds that privacy is immensely important to these employers.
A candidate employed by a family essentially represents that family, and so it follows that the utmost discretion must be employed when using social media.
Freedom of speech is of course a vitally important right in society, but voicing strong views in what is essentially a public forum should, for those working in these roles, be avoided. Those views or beliefs could be seen to be representative of the family for whom they work, which in turn could have far-reaching unintended consequences. It goes without saying that sharing information relating directly to the family or household, or overheard conversations or remarks, would be completely unacceptable.
While there are privacy laws and GDPR to provide a layer of protection here in the UK, many member of the wider population on social media pay little regard to these, besides which by the time justice can be brought to bear any damage might already have been done. The Internet is still something of a free-for-all, and we must consider that once something is posted on a social media site it is often there permanently. It’s then very easy for anyone to find information, views, opinions and so forth that an anyone else has posted in the past.
If working in these kinds of roles, it is strongly advisable to use the many privacy settings on the major social media platforms as tightly as possible in order to keep as much information as is feasible private. For those parts that are available publicly, careful forethought and great discretion are imperative.
A quick search on Google (other search engines are available) will show candidates how to apply these privacy settings to hide their profiles, or parts of them, from public view. Taking a wider view, Googling yourself can also provide an eye-oping indication of what others might take to be the “real” you.
On a more positive note, for those seeking a role in a private household a professional-looking profile can greatly enhance their prospects. It’s worth taking the time to fettle your various profiles, essentially taking control of the picture potential employers will have of you.
Pembury Partners takes pride in discretely placing the best candidates into the finest households around the world.
