If you've applied for a job recently, you know your Facebook page can come back to haunt you.
In a time when people are so public with their personal information, it's what potential employers find out about you online that can be the most damaging. No longer are arrest records the only thing you have to worry about. Now, anything you post online can be used against you.
It could have been a momentary lapse in judgment, perhaps an unflattering photograph or inappropriate comment, and it lives on forever on your friends' Facebook wall or tweets.
Have you ever "googled" yourself to see what comes up? Have you ever posted something you later regretted? Were you tagged in a photo you wished no one had ever seen? These could all cause problems for potential job seekers. It may not be today or next week, but years from now, they could spell trouble when you hit the job market.
According to this MSNBC.com article, "companies are using Google and Facebook to check up on job applicants." The report cites a 2010 Microsoft study that found 70 percent of company recruiters surveyed rejected applicants because of what they found online. The same study also found 15 percent thought what's found online would impact their ability to get a job.
If that sounds like you, it's time for a reality check. The worldwide web is just that. A wide web that connects people from around the world. In a split second, you can find pictures, articles, addresses and more about just about anyone.
Have you checked your Facebook privacy settings lately? If not, you should make sure only friends can see your profile and what you post. Make sure anything you post on your wall or anyone else's wall is appropriate. If a friend tags you in an unflattering or compromising photo, untag yourself and even ask your friend to remove it altogether. Also, remember tweets can be seen by anyone, unless you send a private message.
Reputation.com, a company that helps people and businesses control what's said about them online, has a list of do's and don'ts when it comes to online behavior.
- Don't post compromising photos on your Facebook page.
- Don't make hasty comments in online forums or on other people's blog posts.
- Don't try to confront an obviously intentional online attacker/detractor directly.
- If someone really wants to get at you, anything you do might provoke him further. And the more he puts out there about you, the more people will see it, and link to it, and spread it around, and the higher up it goes in the search engine rankings.
- Although some online groups and forums let you edit your post for a (very) short period of time before it goes live, once it's up there, you can't take it back. Sometimes there's no way to pull the foot out of your virtual mouth.
- It should go without saying, but don't tweet them or post them on Flickr or "DM" them or email them… You may think that only your recipient will see the pics. Think again.
- Don't underestimate the number of people searching for you online.
- Don't assume that everyone shares your sense of humor.
- Take up blogging.
- Establish a presence on social networks.
- Regularly monitor your online reputation.
- LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter are the most popular, and each serves a different purpose. If you want to jump in with both feet, there are plenty of others to explore and engage in. And be sure to keep them all updated: Search engines favor more recent content.
- Start a blog, or two or three, on personal or professional topics. Use a different blogging platform or network for each, and link between them. Update them frequently, with stories, tips or relevant news items. And make (carefully considered) comments on other blogs with topics similar to yours.
- You can set up a Google alert to let you know whenever a new mention of you pops up online. And other services, like Reputation.com, offer more sophisticated tools to help you track and control what shows up.
- Try to get inaccurate information changed or removed.
- Keep your social networks healthy.
- Remember: the Internet never forgets.
- Make a conscious choice about which friend and connection requests you accept - and initiate. Your friends, and their online presence, can reflect on you. Parse and pare down your networks. While it may look impressive to have hundreds of LinkedIn connections and thousands of Facebook friends, when it comes to your online reputation, focus on quality over quantity.
Here's what some of you are saying about this story on the CNYCentral Facebook page:
Edania Hernandez: "If companies and businesses rely on facebook to determine if a potential person is a qualified candidate for them then they need to be evaluated....Business is business and many have a personal life. It is up tho that individual to decide what they want the public to know."
Richard Vanfleet III: "...work and social life are separate how about stop infringing on our rights(what's left of them) and let social networking be social no bosses allowed!>
Skip Mortensen: " I have viewed FaceBook to screen potential hires in the past. IF a potential job candidate is stupid enough to place/leave drunken and drug references and photos, they are not what I want working for me and not what I want in my workplace."
Doris Wolf: "If people don't want the world to know, they shouldn't post on Facebook. People need to realize that Facebook is like a roadside billboard - there for everyone to view."
Joe Hale: "although I disagree with potential employers checking facebook statuses to make the hiring decision, there's also a part of me which says I don't think it's a bad idea. The competition for jobs is so fierce in this economy, that in order to hire the best employee to do the job, "investigating" one's personal life may be the deciding factor, as far as free speech and personal lives and invasion of privacy, facebook is as private as one makes it. if you have two equally qualified candidates and one posts "OMG i got so drunk and am still hung over, and now I have an interview" or someone who posts "I went to church then a bake sale at my grandma's whom I love so dear"- who's the best for the job?"
Do you think employers should screen candidates online? Should what you post on social networks affect your ability to get a job? Are you careful with what you post online? Leave your thoughts below.
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