With the rise of such social networking sites as
Facebook and
MySpace, workers are running into a new problem; what some consider self-expression on personal time is effecting their ability to obtain or keep employment.
More and more
recruiting managers are using these profiles as part of an informal
background check, surfing the web to gather information about the personal lives of potential employees. What these employers are looking for when they begin to view these profiles depends on the individual handling the
job search. For the most part, hiring managers are looking for things that discredit the positive perception they gathered from an interview with an applicant.
In a world of "better safe than sorry," employers are using
social networking sites to determine if the applicant has conflicting personal values to the culture of the workplace. This can be as obvious as the applicants admissions of recreational drug usage on their MySpace profile or something more subtle. In some cases, employers have used the comments an applicant's friends have left them to reach a hiring decision.
For help,
Experience.com says pictures depicting drunken misadventures seem to be some of the most common evidence used against an applicant. Although the person may know that the images were from a once a year celebration, the employer does not. An abundance of such pictures seems to hint at a substance abuse problem or at the very least, an individual who does not conduct themselves in a manner that the company views as beneficial to their image. On a similar note, overtly sexual photos seem to say that the person in question has little self-respect.
Blog entries can be equally damaging to one's career. For most, the public diaries are a way to connect and stay in touch with peers of similar mindsets and experiences. To
employers, they are a way to learn more about the applicant as a person. Even comments made sarcastically, comments that friends and family would understand, can be taken in the wrong way.
For the most part, people don't want to use their personal profiles to advertise their credentials or to discuss the finer points of volunteering at an orphanage. So, how does one maintain an office friendly persona and express their individuality? Changing a profile's security settings to private or friends only can help avoid the situation all together. In these cases, only the main picture has to be employer-approved.
For those who want their profiles to remain viewable to the public, things can be trickier. Keeping the written content on a PG level is a good start. Posting only pictures that could easily be shown to mom is also a good idea. At the very least, make albums that contain more questionable photos only accessible to friends. Doing the same with blog entries will help having one’s application tossed in the garbage can.
On a final note, for those with friends with particularly wacky senses of humor, it might be best to set profile comments so that they must be approved before they appear publicly. This will keep employers from making their hiring decision based on a picture of a nun and an otter in an awkward position that the roommate just had to share.
Labels: facebook, myspace, social networking
Social networking sites aren't just for e-mailing friends and keeping track of exes any longer. By downloading newly designed applications, members can now use
Faecbook as a tool to aid in
searching for a job.
A sign that the website is maturing from a high school and college phenomenon, finding a job through
Facebook is becoming more popular. Many well-known job search websites have begun to get involved, creating additions for members personal sites which gives access to frequently updated postings of employees in need of new staff members. Some of these applications send members alerts as soon as new positions are listed.
Careerbuilder's new Faceboook application is capable of scanning a member's profile for job search relevant information such as location, college major, and networks. Making finding a job on Facebook even easier, Careerbuilder takes this information and uses it to match users with the most promising positions in its database.
When a member signs on to their account they are able to access these local job openings or use a link to look over positions in other areas. The application also allows members to forward job opportunities to other individuals in their network, increasing the likelihood of companies finding the right talent for the job. Other large job search sites who are beginning to use Facebook as a way to reach potential employees include
Jobster.com and
Indeed.com.
Many believe that such applications will make the process of searching for a job easier and more convenient. This also gives employers a new way to market open positions to the public.
Those who have hopes of finding a job through
Faceboook should seriously re-evaluate their profiles. A recent
Carerbuilder survey found that one out of every ten
recruiting managers use information found on social networking sites to screen their job candidates. Knowing this, it is important, especially for those who use such sites to search for jobs, to look at their profiles as a potential employer might.
Pictures of drunken nights and profanity maybe entertaining to friends, but they do not give off a professional appearance. Those who are not willing to censor themselves should consider changing their privacy settings so that their profile is only visible to friends.
Labels: facebook
