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The next time you take to Twitter, decide whether you are happy with your job. Not because your social media post will get your fired (even though it could). But, because your next Tweet could prevent you from getting a job.

With all the Tweets and Facebook posts, it is highly unlikely that a human will be able to dig through every candidate's’ social media profiles prior to making hiring decisions. Instead, it is very likely that an artificial intelligence app will do it. And, those artificial intelligence apps might find that your social media posts disqualify you for a job that you would be very good at doing.

Why are computers doing this work?

Artificial intelligence (AI) has been around for many years and companies are just realizing the value that AI has to human resources departments. Job-vetting machines can get a serious amount of work accomplished in a very short amount of time.

These AI apps have become very effective at digging through social media posts by looking for keywords, images, and contacts. So, if you are looking for a new job, your social media persona could affect your odds of even getting an interview.

Machines, like IBM’s Watson, are being used to sort through job applications. This way, humans are not overwhelmed and exhausted looking through them to find the most qualified candidates. The AI apps do this. Then the humans conduct interviews and make the final decisions.

The first time that Watson was exposed to the public, the machine had to play a game of Jeopardy. IBM has since looked at the skills that Watson had and has made them specific for different industries.

It turns out that digging through job applications was something the computer could do well. The computer relies on a processor that builds profiles that are used to compare candidates. It uses the processor to evaluate personality traits that are gathered by looking at social media, text messages, emails, blogs, and forum posts.

The human ways of finding job candidates

Prior to using something like Watson to sort through candidate resumes and read their cover letters, there were other, more human ways of finding candidates. Companies relied on recruiters and their current employees to find people who had the skills, knowledge, and personalities that would fit.

Using a bot to find candidates removes the chances of finding a job based on who you know. Yes, there will still be companies that hire based on the recommendations of their current employees and their favorite recruiters, but the big companies will move away from this.