Banks are watching your social media — here are 5 things to avoid if you want a career in finance

Corporate Resolutions Inc

LONDON – If you’ve just had a big night out, you might want to think twice before posting the gory details on Facebook or Instagram.

Especially if you want to work in finance.

Banks and hedge funds are increasingly checking social media accounts of potential hires to see if they will be a responsible, sober employee.

Investors are employing the same techniques to decide who gets to manage their money. They often look for specific personality traits and psychological profiles before trusting a person with their wealth.

Specialist firms carry out the checks and Business Insider spoke to one of them – Corporate Resolutions – to find out what triggers the biggest and brightest red flags. The company, based in New York, was set up by a former FBI agent.

“We cruise social networking sites to ensure the potential executive or money-manager is not commenting on or posting pictures,” that potential employers would find distasteful, Joelle Scott, a senior vice president at Corporate Resolutions, said.

Sites like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram offer a huge repository of public information about private people. Here’s what companies like Corporate Resolutions look at.