Rebekah was 'chronically online' until it cost her a job with a six-figure salary

Exclusive: Nearly 90 per cent of Australians use social media, many of them without any consideration of their digital footprint or who may see it.

Rebekah was the same, until resurfaced posts from years ago it cost her a six-figure job.

The 34-year-old from Melbourne, who asked not to have her surname published, was up for a plum role in the finance sector and thought she had it in the bag.

A manager had even told her she was the preferred candidate for the $124k gig after sailing through three rounds of interviews.

Then she got a call from HR saying they’d decided to go in a different direction; they didn’t say why.

“I didn’t cry straight away, I think I said ‘OK, thank you’ and hung up,’” Rebekah told nine.com.au.

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“Then I sat on the floor for about twenty minutes. The worst part was that I’d already told my mum [I had the job].”

A few weeks later, a colleague who had been involved in the interview process told Rebekah she’d missed out on the job offer because of her digital footprint.

“[The colleague] said the hiring panel had done a deep social media review ... and that ‘concerns had been raised’,” Rebekah said.

Have you got a story? Contact reporter Maddison Skipper at mleach@nine.com.au

Dr Giuseppe Carabetta, associate professor of workplace and business law at the University of Technology Sydney, said employers can refuse to hire a candidate or withdraw a job offer based on information they find online – most of the time.

“An employer can decline or retract an offer based on social media if it relates to legitimate concerns (e.g. conduct, reputation, dishonesty),” he told nine.com.au.

“But not if it is discriminatory or breaches general protections.”

It’s still illegal for employers to make hiring decisions based on protected attributes such as race, sex, disability or age.

For example, it would be unlawful to retract a job offer after learning through social media that a candidate is gay.

But it can be difficult to prove if that has happened.

Employees can also be disciplined or dismissed over social media posts if there is a sufficient connection to their employment.

For example, if they damage the employer’s reputation, breach company policies, involve misconduct or discrimination, or undermine trust between employer and employee.

Rebekah’s colleague didn’t say which posts caused concerns, but Rebekah felt she could discern which ones might have reflected poorly on her.

Unprofessional photos from a music festival; ill-advised political posts; comments calling out a well-known industry figure by name over something innocuous.

“I was a young woman on the internet, that was just what you did,” she said.

“No one told you it can destroy your career later.”

In hindsight, Rebekah could see why an employer might think twice after Googling her name and seeing the search results.

Angry and ashamed, she spent days scrubbing her social media profiles of anything that could be considered even slightly problematic, including old forum comments and blogs from her teen years.

“I deleted anything that could be read in the worst possible faith by someone who didn’t know me,” she said.

Rebekah also forked out for digital reputation management services from Image Group International to help her wipe the slate clean and build a new, more professional online presence.

“They looked at everything; LinkedIn, Google results, image searches, old content, and what came up when my name was searched alongside my industry,” she said.

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Then they overhauled it to make sure her digital footprint wouldn’t come back bite her again.

Carabetta said all Aussies to get familiar with their employer’s social media policy and code of conduct.

“Be cautious with political commentary, jokes or memes that could be racist, sexist, or discriminatory, and criticism of employers or industries,” he warned.

Audit your online presence regularly and remove or archive anything that could raise red flags for an employer, even if it’s on a private account.

Social media posts can still get you in trouble if they were made before you started your current role.

“They may still undermine trust or expose reputational risk and therefore justify disciplinary action or even termination,” he said.

If in doubt, ask yourself if you’d be comfortable if the content appeared on the front page of a newspaper with your employer’s name.

“If the answer’s no, delete it,” he said.

Today Rebekah has a role she loves and she’s much more careful about what she shares online.

“Before I post anything, [I ask] would I be comfortable if my employer, a future employer, or a client saw this?” Rebekah said.

“The version of you that posts at 2am when you’re emotional or drunk or outraged is not the version that a future employer, client, or investor will extend charity to.”