Employers screen applicants via sites like Facebook

Parent Cafe
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<p>By Robert Verkaik, Law Editor
Published: 29 June 2007
Google, the world’s biggest search engine, is being sued by a London businessman in a landmark legal action that could hold the US-based company liable for the publication of inaccurate, malicious or damaging material on the internet. </p>

<p>I really did not even go looking for this, it just found me…</p>

<p>link to the entire article:
<a href=“http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/legal/article2720094.ece[/url]”>http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/legal/article2720094.ece&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>collegemom:</p>

<p>You’ve mentioned a number of legitimate and reasonable uses of these social networking sites but the fact is that a significant number of people of HS and College age (and others) are posting “too much” information on these sites. They’re posting info they’d be embarrassed about right now depending on who’s reading it (their mother, Grandmother, employer, potential mate, etc.). Some wouldn’t be embarrassed now but would be either embarrassed or regret posting that information when it might be accessed down the road. </p>

<p>I agree that employers should ‘consider the source’ regarding any info they obtain from the internet just as they should when they contact former employers and references. Whether we like it or not though, some employers will still do searches of the internet as part of the evaluation process and as NSM states, the rejected applicant will likely never know or even have a way of knowing why they were rejected. There probably isn’t even any documentation at the employer stating the reason for rejection. When one has many other equally qualified candidates to choose from it makes it difficult for anyone other than the decision maker to determine why one was selected and others rejected (sounds like admissions to top colleges!).</p>

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<p>well…cant you make your profile private? private as in the only way they can contact you is by sending you a message. it also means they cannot see your friends (so they cant track you from your friends) or whatever. i never understood this…wouldnt making pf private solve everything?</p>

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<p>^^^ Once the info’s posted it’s outside of your control. You can use their security features but you have no direct control over them, have no knowledge of how robust they are, how hack-proof, etc. Something as simple as an admin problem or a coding error could render the user security functions non-functional for periods of time. Again, if you don’t want it to be seen, don’t post it where you have no real control.</p>

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<p>Atlantiz: Yes, in theory, you can. I think the point that some are making, however, is that the internet should never be assumed to be fully private, no matter what your “settings” are (especially on a networking site, where even if you attempt to regulate the flow of traffic, the point of having a profile is that people will see it). Privacy settings should never be a substitute for good judgment.</p>

<p>Collegemom: Yes, facebook IS a great networking tool for all of those reasons. However, it also provides a very easy opportunity for its (primarily) young audience to exercise poor judgment. Yes, things could happen over which an individual has no direct control–a false profile, for example. But there’s plenty that individuals CAN control, and yet often neglect to–inappropriate photos and comments, groups/photos/comments that suggest illegal or wildly immature activity, or what have you. I know frighteningly few people who actually take steps to keep their profiles relatively “clean,” because they naively believe that the site is completely secure, or that no one will care about what they put online. My advice isn’t “don’t join” (this is becoming almost impractical among certain age-groups), but is “know what you’re opening yourself up to, and exercise caution accordingly.”</p>

<p>Another point is that we keep talking about one’s ‘friends’ versus other non-friend network users. And it’s true, some individuals are exceptionally careful about who they ‘friend’ on networking websites, so ‘facebook friend’ and actual friend are synonymous. But as someone who really only ‘friends’ and accepts requests from people I know (versus random hot strangers, or everyone from my hometown, or a friend-of-a-friend with a vaguely interesting profile), I’m among the more discerning users that I’ve ever known. And even at that, I have plenty of facebook ‘friends’ who I really don’t know: people I went to elementary school with, the best friend who moved away after second grade, my partner from the take-home math exam sophomore year, my friend’s ex-boyfriend, my old roommate’s sister’s best friend, a guy I met on vacation in Florida. Over a few years, the names have added up even as the connections have expired. Just something to think about since it’s so easy to forget that one’s 50, 100, or 300-some-odd facebook ‘friends’ don’t actually constitute that secure or close-knit of a group.</p>

<p>Finally, remember to think about on-campus employers. I know kids who applied to be RAs (resident advisors), and had extensive underage drinking photos on their profiles. The hiring committee, both students and staff, had access to facebook, and they used it. I don’t know to what degree they relied on it, or actually based decisions on online info, but I couldn’t believe that applicants wouldn’t have even considered this as a possibility. Recommendation writers could potentially access the info, as well. Just good possibilities to think about and be aware of!</p>

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<p>^^^ Well said.</p>

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<p>Read the latest article in SmartMoney magazine: “Family Secrets”. It’s about parents who lose their jobs because of what their children post on the internet.</p>

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<p>There’s another potential issue for the socializing site people - they may become so accustomed to spending a lot of time at these sites that they may do so while on the job once they enter their career. I wonder how many realize that a lot of employers now monitor the sites their employees are visiting and the content being transferred.</p>

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<p>“Finally, remember to think about on-campus employers. I know kids who applied to be RAs (resident advisors), and had extensive underage drinking photos on their profiles. The hiring committee, both students and staff, had access to facebook, and they used it. I don’t know to what degree they relied on it, or actually based decisions on online info, but I couldn’t believe that applicants wouldn’t have even considered this as a possibility. Recommendation writers could potentially access the info, as well. Just good possibilities to think about and be aware of!”</p>

<p>This happens at my college as well. I applied to be an RA along with two of my friends. They both had albums full of pictures of themselves in compromising positions, I didn’t. I was the only one of the three of us to get the position. I really don’t know if that had anything to do with the selection process, but there are members of the reslife staff (including the majority of the RAs and RDs) who are on facebook. The same goes for adcoms, professors, and the like. It isn’t as though students don’t know they’re there - they just don’t care. Every fall the incoming class is given a lecture at Fall orientation about facebook, and very seldom do people take it to heart.</p>

<p>Besides, I can’t imagine posting anything online I wouldn’t want my cousins to see (or to show to my aunts and uncles). I don’t know if I’ve toned it down enough to suit my grandmother’s taste though (as ucsd<em>ucla</em>dad suggests) - she’d be so offended if she found out I was a democrat I don’t think the rest would matter!</p>

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<p>Exactly. Who knows out of those 300 “friends” who may have given access or their passwords (whether the kid knows it or not) to others and who that may turn out to be, or who that person will tell in turn etc. etc. etc. The privacy settings give a completely false sense of security, IMO. I’ve already heard enough stories based on just this scenario to know how common it is.</p>

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<p>And it’s not just the friends you don’t know. How many stories have there been on the news about kids (and young adults, and older adults!) who get mad at each other in “real life” and start spreading rumors or copying private messages for all the world to see? In the past, those kinds of rumors or messages could be forgotten when the friends made up and were friends again, but if it’s out in the Ethernet, it’s there to stay. It kicks revenge for real or perceived slights up a few notches, doesn’t it?</p>

<p>Remember the NJ beauty queen just a few months ago, who was blackmailed based on what she put on her “private” facebook account? (She didn’t give in to the blackmailer, and didn’t lose her crown, but it was a mess and embarrassing for her.) How do you think the blackmailer found out the info, if Facebook is so “private”?</p>

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<p>Facebook may not as secure in the coming weeks/months. Part of its source code was recently leaked and if any exploits are found, there won’t be a whole lotta privacy with facebook.</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/08/11/facebook-source-code-leaked/[/url]”>http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/08/11/facebook-source-code-leaked/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>Employers want to hire people that show good judgement and will represent the company well, and in some cases that means some self control and decorum</p>

<p>If they had a choice between someone who’s facebook was “tame” and antohers with wild drinking they are advertising to the world. hmmmm</p>