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‘I just like to keep my personal life separate’: TikToker says job interviewers asked why they couldn’t find her social media accounts

‘It just feels weird that people can find me.’

Photo of Tricia Crimmins

Tricia Crimmins

Job interview with woman and man questioning woman (l) woman talking (r)

A woman says in a viral TikTok that job interviewers asked if she had social media—and why her social media accounts were difficult to find.

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The TikToker, Nani (@alioxonfree), said she had never before been asked about her social media presence during hiring and that the interview was for a marketing position.

“Yeah, I do have social media. But it’s on purpose, I like to keep my business life separate from my personal life. I don’t feel like there’s any reason why anyone should find me on social media,” @Nani says she told interviewers.

She also says she told them that although she has a LinkedIn account, she doesn’t use it because “it just feels weird that people can find me.”

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“If you want to know anything about my credentials, you want to know about my work history, my references, anything like that, you can communicate with me and I can provide you with that information,” Nani says she told interviewers.

By Tuesday, her TikTok received over 287,000 views.

In a follow-up video, Nani explained that because she works in marketing, she knows that people are able to glean an immense amount of information about others via their social media profiles and/or presence on the internet.

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“On a daily basis, I see everything on the back end of things. I can see someone’s [Virtual Private Network] number,” Nani says. “You can get pretty into depth looking into someone’s information. I’ll be damned if I’m gonna be putting that out there for other people. Like, no.”

Commenters expressed agreement with the TikToker and discussed how invasive job interviewers looking on people’s social media accounts can be.

“MOST employers do this that’s why I always tell family and friends not to use their real name,” commented user @winsomework, who identified themselves as working in human relations.

“It’s so invasive!” @peachringzzzz wrote. “When applications ask for this info I stop filling it out bc there’s no reason they should have access to my whole life.”

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“Jobs clearly forget that interviews are a decision process for BOTH parties. This would’ve been a red flag for me,” @skinnybuggati commented.

Other commenters asked Nani for her advice on keeping one’s social media accounts as private as possible, which she explained in a follow-up video. She recommended keeping personal information off of social media accounts.

The Daily Dot reached out to Nani via TikTok comment.

Update 3:45pm CT, April 14: Nani clarified in a TikTok comment that her marketing work allows her to see users’ IP addresses, not VPNs.

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