Facebook & Employers

[CopingGal]

Screw facebook and screw these employers too.

[Leigh 87]

I can understand why employers want to avoid idiots who go posting riciculous sh*t in facebook. You know - people who swear, speak like they are uneducated, and are innapropriate on facebook?

 

Facebook can really reflect what type of a person you are!

 

For instance, I would want to employ people who have characters - where they only use facebook to chat to their friends; the post they make are off funny links to utube, of funny animals or that sort tof thing... Nothing sexual or vulgar, or about the mundane, boring things they are doing all day.

 

Basically, facebook says a lot about your character. I use facebook to talk to friends, and i also like to occasionally share a funny link. I like to laugh and be funny. I post on peoples walls to say " hey stranger, how have you been, we neet to catch up"... and the funny or intersting links. That is all. No posts about the awesome chicken sandwich I just ate for lunch, and how I want another one ( yes a person on my page just posted that recently....)

 

 

I do not agree in giving the facebook password out, and it is totally unheard of where I live in Australia! OF COURSE though, I EXPECT emplorers to check out my facebook page!

It is also about the profession your in! People with degrees or who arein a professional, higher ranked job, are generally better educated and less likely to sound like an uneducated moron on facebooK!

 

Where as, people in lower paying and less skilled jobs, like retain or in a cafe job, tend to be the types who go on facebook, and post EVERY mundane, useless detail of their life, and talk in an manner that is well... they do not use propper spelling ro grammar and sound very immature.

Some of those types of girls post pictures of them half naked, that sort of thing..........

 

WOuld I employ people who are constantly on facebook, saying the goings on of their day, all day every day? Maybe. If they spelt corrently, and sounded like they were educated well enough, They may not be the type of person I associate with, but as long ass the posting is appropriate, not overtly sexual or vulgar... then an oversharing person would be fine, if they were a decent person who did the job well.

 

Mann, there are a lot of reasons why an emlpoyer would judge your facebook page.... For me, though, it comes down to sounding uneducated and stupid ( hey everyone, tha sky is so blue taday - yes some people spell like that, they enjoy using slang to a large extent..)

 

I am a facebook junkie - when I am at home online. I think it is a good ida for employers to see what type of person you are, through whatever means. They should NOT demand a password though. I have private conversations with my partner on facebook, that is frankly none of their business.

[Fugu]

If an employer asks for my FB password, then the application process is over. I'm not going to give it out. None of their business.

[d'Arthez]

For instance, I would want to employ people who have characters - where they only use facebook to chat to their friends; the post they make are off funny links to utube, of funny animals or that sort tof thing... Nothing sexual or vulgar, or about the mundane, boring things they are doing all day.

The problem with employers checking on FB is that they are operating on a premise of mistrust, rather than trust (including their own recruitment policies). As a consequence, it will pay for future employees to be paranoid on what is on their pages.

 

Links to Youtube can be a tricky affair, especially if you are linking to copyrighted stuff. And since copyrights usually last 100+ years, your employer technically has the legal obligation to report you to the authorities. So be safe, and remove all links to copyrighted stuff on your wall, and in your conversation with friends, just to be "safe". Great way to start.

 

Basically, facebook says a lot about your character.

That I do not deny.

 

I use facebook to talk to friends, and i also like to occasionally share a funny link. I like to laugh and be funny. I post on peoples walls to say " hey stranger, how have you been, we neet to catch up"... and the funny or intersting links.

There is value in that. However, as you know, communication between real friends is not always easy to interpret by strangers. Nicknames of friends can be seen as highly offensive, while your friends themselves have no problems with them (this is especially the case when you have friends of many different hues and nationalities). Would you want to be denied a job opportunity, because of a nickname you use for a friend?

 

It is also about the profession your in! People with degrees or who arein a professional, higher ranked job, are generally better educated and less likely to sound like an uneducated moron on facebooK!

They are probably also less likely to spend much time on Facebook. I hope.

 

Where as, people in lower paying and less skilled jobs, like retain or in a cafe job, tend to be the types who go on facebook, and post EVERY mundane, useless detail of their life, and talk in an manner that is well... they do not use propper spelling ro grammar and sound very immature.

Some of those types of girls post pictures of them half naked, that sort of thing..........

And the problem with young girls posting semi-naked pictures of themselves on FB is (assuming all is done in compliance with the law)? Or posting pictures of sexual conquests and the like? You may talk to your friends about issues you are having in real life. Would you want an employer not hiring you because of issues surrounding your sexuality? What people do in their private time is no business of the employer.

 

It may inform the employer of a lot of characteristics about you, but the relevant information is hard to separate from your lifestyle (and it won't be). Would you be comfortable in the knowledge that your boss knows things about you and your boyfriend, and your personal psychological issues, from day 1 onwards?

 

WOuld I employ people who are constantly on facebook, saying the goings on of their day, all day every day? Maybe. If they spelt corrently, and sounded like they were educated well enough, They may not be the type of person I associate with, but as long ass the posting is appropriate, not overtly sexual or vulgar... then an oversharing person would be fine, if they were a decent person who did the job well.

 

Mann, there are a lot of reasons why an emlpoyer would judge your facebook page.... For me, though, it comes down to sounding uneducated and stupid ( hey everyone, tha sky is so blue taday - yes some people spell like that, they enjoy using slang to a large extent..)

Sorry to come across as blunt, but judging by your spelling you would struggle to hire yourself (please don't take this as a flame; most people struggle with spelling. I think it is true that most CVs contain spelling mistakes). Having to write stuff on your wall with a dictionary in hand defeats the purpose of FB.

[SarahRose]

I don't think that facebook postings or personality tests mean anything and it really says the hiring manager doesn't have good judgement when hiring people on their own and they expect a test to tell them whom to hire rather than using their brain to discern who would be the best fit.

 

It has probably been 20 years ago but i was up for a consulting job at a small company with one other guy. they ran us through the ringer with moronic questions and tests and they chose the other guy because he passed the tests and had worked at his previous job a decade. he had not done project or consulting work.

 

about 2 months later, i get a frantic phone call from the owner wanting to know if i could come in and do the project.

 

the other guy had messed things up so badly and cost them a lot of money.

 

so i had a few hours a week to devote to a new project so i go in and meet with the owner and some other manager and they had the nerve to try to lowball me on the rate and insist i come into the office and work their every day like an employee.

 

i quickly bowed out and ended the meeting quickly and declined their offer.

 

there should be a test to weed out idiotic employers.

 

otoh i know quite a few mid and upper management type people who are very serious and competent on the job but are wild and crazy guys outside of work and nobody seems to mind. their facebook has photos of 'actresses', farmville, them at the bar toasting with a pint.

[Engadget]

Something to think about.. lying in an interview and being caught would mean you didn't get the job..

 

When I check out prospective employees I can guarantee you that I always find their facebook page.. while you may think it is hard to find, it is easier than you might realize..

 

Of course we also never ask them if they have one so your point would never happen.

 

I think an employer who asks for a login and password to me is breaking the law..

It is against FB policy to give your password to anyone, so they would be asking you to break the law, what kind of a company would ask someone to do that is what you need to ask yourself.

 

I hope some regulation polices are installed that prevent employers from asking for logins and passwords...

 

Now.. what is in the public domain.. that is free game.. and people need to watch what they post on their FB..

If you post a comment to a public page.. say Home Depot's page, then your post is viewable by the entire world.

 

There's no way you can always find someone's profile, believe me. There may be a slight chance, but good luck with that.

 

1. Don't use your real name, first or last.

 

2. Block all searches of your name, the only people that know you exist are Friends and their friends. Beyond that, you don't exist to Facebook or the world.

 

3. Don't have your profile picture as your face.

 

4. Use an e-mail address you barely use as the one for Facebook.

 

If none of that works:

 

5. Delete it prior to the job trying to find it, or de-activate it and bring it back later.

[Almond_Joy]

There's no way you can always find someone's profile, believe me. There may be a slight chance, but good luck with that.

 

2. Block all searches of your name, the only people that know you exist are Friends and their friends. Beyond that, you don't exist to Facebook or the world.

 

 

 

I've been trying since I made this post to figure out how to do this.

 

I went under Privacy settings and changed my settings in the "How You Connect" module to Friends and Friends of Friends only, but if any Facebook user searches for my legal first and last name my profile shows in the search results.

 

I know that you can prevent your profile from coming up in name search results by other Facebook users without using an alias name because I tested the profiles of two people with a non-friend fb account and they didn't come up. Facebook help says they no longer have a feature that allows you to disable people from searching for you by name, but how are people still able to accomplish it if it's a feature they no longer offer?

 

Does anybody know the solution to this catch-22?

[Art_Critic]

There's no way you can always find someone's profile, believe me. There may be a slight chance, but good luck with that.

 

1. Don't use your real name, first or last.

 

2. Block all searches of your name, the only people that know you exist are Friends and their friends. Beyond that, you don't exist to Facebook or the world.

 

3. Don't have your profile picture as your face.

 

4. Use an e-mail address you barely use as the one for Facebook.

 

If none of that works:

 

5. Delete it prior to the job trying to find it, or de-activate it and bring it back later.

 

You forgot.. don't have any FB friends .. that is how I find many people.. thru their friends, family.. etc...

 

But I guess if you used a fake name then that alone would stop anybody from finding you...

[Fugu]

Just don't write anything on FB. I hardly write anything at all anymore; I don't post on my wall and I've tried to keep others from doing the same, although FB keeps changing the settings so it's like a constant privacy war with the Zuckermeister. Even so, it's pretty low key. I don't even post pics. I use it as an online rolodex and I use it to keep up with others who are less private than I am. It's a good thing employers can't look up all of Fugu's loveshack posts.

[freestyle]

I read an article about established employees who were being told that they *had* to have a FB account, to keep their jobs. If I find it, I'll link it.

 

This trend has a frighteningly Orwellian vibe to it, in my opinion. I find it disconcerting, and it really makes me wonder what the social climate will be fifty years from now..........

[Engadget]

You forgot.. don't have any FB friends .. that is how I find many people.. thru their friends, family.. etc...

 

But I guess if you used a fake name then that alone would stop anybody from finding you...

 

Yep, but I doubt you'd know any of my family unless you specifically asked for their names, and my family on FB is rare.

 

Plus my last name is fake for that reason.