HOLT | A professional's Facebook
For the past few years, I have kept pretty close tabs on my social networking accounts.
I make sure the photos tagged of me are appropriate, and if they're not, I take them down. I refrain from including non-politically correct interests and activities in my profile (now that I type that, I'm not quite sure I have a list of those anyway .), and I try to keep profanity in my status updates to a minimum.
However, I cannot count how many times my mother has begged me to get rid of my page. She has two lines of reasoning. The first is stalkers and the second is someone not hiring me because of my Facebook page.
I've heard of this happening. Someone has belligerent pictures of themselves from freshman year tagged and they don't get a job.
Or the companies who create fake profiles to see all the available details about someone's personal life.
Recently, a woman in Britain was fired from her job because she took a sick day but logged into her Facebook account.
OK, the last one I understand. While the sole act of logging in is not grounds for dismissal, posting something on Facebook contradicting a lie and then getting caught is just dumb.
But is it really fair for employers to take Facebook and other social profiles into consideration during the hiring process?
Most companies are taking that route. I understand wanting to know about the backgrounds of employees, but shouldn't a background and reference check give a pretty good idea of someone's work ethic, work experience and the ability to show up to work on time and sober?
Yes, people who post to Facebook accounts are, to a certain extent, making their lives public. But what about people who keep their profiles on private?
Recently, I interviewed for a few internships both in and out of Michigan. Shortly after beginning the interview process, I received a number of friend requests from people in New York, Kansas and New Orleans. I didn't know a single one and didn't have friends in common with any of them.
Nothing indicated these people were from the companies I had interviewed with, but it was a strange coincidence. I denied every one.
What exactly were they looking for? Activities: kicking kittens, getting high, taunting old ladies and drinking excessively. Who would actually post something like that anyway?
Needless to say, I don't think Facebook is an accurate barometer of a person, their character or their work ethic.
In a constantly shrinking and ever-connected world, though, whatever you post is fair game. Apparently that's how more and more companies are playing it.
So be careful, fellow cyber junkies. We live in a world full of accessible information and a country with limited jobs available.
Employers will look for any reason to decrease their workload in the hiring process, so don't let Facebook become what keeps you from finding a job.
