It’s all the rage this week. Last Saturday, Ariana Grande locked lips with her back-up dancer boyfriend, licked a tray of doughnuts, and professed she hates America in a Lake Elsinore, California doughnut store, Wolfee Donuts.

Now, only days later, the young pop-star has landed herself in hot water. The shop owner has filed a report with local detectives, police are investigating the incident, and Riverside County health officials are investigating the doughnut store for the food tampering committed by Grande (which has a lot of people, including Perez Hilton, all riled up).

But why has this doughnut drama become the talk of the town this week? It was caught on surveillance video. That’s why.

Love her or hate her, you can learn from Ariana Grande’s mistake.

Job seekers, here are the 3 biggest take-aways from Ariana Grande’s doughnut debacle:

1. Nothing is private anymore

64% of American adults currently own a smartphone of some kind. And this number keeps growing. This means that at any given moment, someone—a friend, a stranger, your selfie—can snap a photo or video of you and immediately post it on social media. Privacy has become antiquated. But, you can protect yourself. Firstly, clean up your social media accounts. Remove all unprofessional photos and videos. Secondly, if you’re a job seeker, make all of your social media pages private. Employers can and will review your social pages before inviting you in for an interview. Additionally, update the privacy settings on all of your accounts to require approval on tags and mentions. That way, your accidental photo-bomb won’t harm your chances of landing your dream job, despite how awesome your resume looks.

2. Realize that you’re always in the fishbowl

Job seekers live in a fishbowl. All dimensions of a fishbowl are transparent; therefore, you forfeit your privacy. The job interview doesn’t begin when the HR manager calls you in to her office to begin the Q and A. Nope. Instead, the interview begins when you park your car in the employer’s parking lot. From that moment on, your prospective employer and its employees are observing you. They noticed how long you sat in your car before entering the building, they noticed how friendly you were in the elevator, and they noticed how you appeared in the front lobby, impatiently waiting to be invited in to the room with HR. As a job seeker, you’re being monitored and judged by everyone involved. Act accordingly.

3. Skills can be taught, character is priceless

Yes, Ariana Grande’s doughnut drama is news this week because it was caught on video. However, had she conducted herself in a more delightful manor, we wouldn’t even know she entered into a doughnut store last Saturday, July 4th, at 11:30PM. “Ariana Grande orders Doughnut” doesn’t exactly make for an interesting headline. Character means everything to employers. An employer can teach you how to use Salesforce or QuickBooks. Employers can teach you how to write a compelling email or convert a lead into a sale. Employers can’t, however, teach you how to have an exceptional work ethic. The way you conduct yourself on a regular basis is priceless, as a job seeker and as a hired employee.

When it comes to your public persona, job seekers beware. Not even Ariana Grande can fall back on the excuse “at least I’m being honest.”

Has a social media post cost you a job with a potential or current employer? What has been your experience with social media when it comes to your career?

Cari Stark

Cari Stark earned her B.A. in English and creative writing at the University of California, Irvine in 2013 and is now the Marketing Manager for College Works Painting, a college internship designed to give students the opportunity to build a competitive resume to help them land their dream job when they graduate. Check out their free career tool kit to learn how to improve your career!

Cari is also a mother to a goofy little boy and a wife to a hilarious man. Her boys keep her laughing constantly.

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