One In Five Employers Scan Applicants' Web Lives

Ned Nederlander writes "CareerBuilder's new survey finds: 'Of those hiring managers who have screened job candidates via social networking profiles, one-third (34 percent) reported they found content that caused them to dismiss the candidate from consideration.' Some red flags: content about applicant using drugs or drinking, inappropriate photos and bad-mouthing former bosses."

and...

Posting to /.

Re:and...

I expect if someone actually posted online using their real name, they should expect someone to find those postings and use them against the poster.

I'm constantly surprised that so many people post stupid shit about themselves using their full real name.

Also, just for fun, I googled my real name (which is not especially common) and I found three other prople who share the same name in the top 5 hits. The real me appeared once in the top 10 (I was interviewed by a newspaper as part of a charity event several years ago)

Re:and...

And only an idiot would film themselves committing a crime, and it would take an even bigger idiot to post that video to the Internet, and...

Only 20%??

Why does every manager not screen all applicants? Takes 5 minutes.

You're not thinking

Any manager who scans the supposed web life of an applicant is a complete idiot if they can't verify that what they are looking at is authenticated to the applicant.

Let me put it simply. Send me your real name and address. I'll guarantee that I'll trash any job potential you have with one of these hiring managers.

Which might actually be a good thing, since any such manager has probably also populated the place with fellow idiots.

I've been a victim myself of a web smear campaign, and I can tell you that it's no fun. Plus it will stay around forever, depending on how it's done.

Re:You're not thinking

I've been a victim myself of a web smear campaign, and I can tell you that it's no fun. Plus it will stay around forever, depending on how it's done.

I've seen a lot of negative things posted about you on the internet; I didn't realize that it was part of a smear campaign! From now on I will not trust anything I read about "Anonymous Coward"!

Re:You're not thinking

Oh I don't know... "Yeah... ummm that picture that was tagged of me on facebook while "I" was supposedly snorting cocaine while setting fire to a kennel full of puppies... ummm that was definitely a smear campaign!" It just sort of has that ring of unbelievability to it.

Re:Only 20%??

Solution for facebook: Just don't.

Re:Only 20%??

That's easy to say when your family is just a shout upstairs away.

Re:Only 20%??

Except when your friends with unlocked profiles post pictures with you tagged in them.

Re:Only 20%??

Except when your friends with unlocked profiles post pictures with you tagged in them.

There are privacy settings that allow you to block others from seeing pictures you are tagged in from your profile. You can also block people from seeing your friends list and wall.

Facebook has pretty good privacy settings.

Silly people

What would you expect if you admitted you're a drunken dope user on Facebook? An award for honesty?

And the logic of posting photos of yourself in compromising situations online: There is none.

Re:Silly people

Of course, you could simply not get so wasted they can take those pictures. You could choose not to smoke illegal substances.

You know, act like the responsible person that you want to be seen as.

You could choose your friends better. I'm not sure how much I'd think of "friends" who post pictures of others out of control on public web pages just to humiliate them.

You could always not use Facebook, as others have pointed out.

I agree with some of the others, like the GPP (Haoie). If you post it on the public internet, don't get mad when the public reads it and judges you based on it.

Re:Silly people

That sounds like an awful lot of personal responsibility. I'm way too young and carefree to worry about silly things like privacy and rights and things coming to bite me in the ass later.

Re:Silly people

I know what you mean. I, Devin Lott, of 1056 Arbor Way, 89120, am worried that if people find out that I save cats in my spare time, they'll hold it against me because they're dog people. Or they'll find out that one night a week I save children from burning buildings instead. Or even that I volunteer at the wrong soup kitchen.

Oh well, at least Doctors without Borders will be taking me out of the country for a year, so I won't have to worry about it until then.

What About the Good Things?

This summary leaves out the entire second half of the article:

On the other hand, social networking profiles gave some job seekers an edge over the competition. Twenty-four percent of hiring managers who researched job candidates via social networking sites said they found content that helped to solidify their decision to hire the candidate. Top factors that influenced their hiring decision included:

• 48% - candidate's background supported their qualifications for the job
• 43% - candidate had great communication skills
• 40% - candidate was a good fit for the company's culture
• 36% - candidate's site conveyed a professional image
• 31% - candidate had great references posted about them by others
• 30% - candidate showed a wide range of interests
• 29% - candidate received awards and accolades
• 24% - candidate's profile was creative

Some of the numbers on this article have to be wrong ... 22% shared sensitive information from their prior employer ... ?! What could that be?

Re:What About the Good Things? AND SABOTAGE!!!

So...

Step 1: Keep a professional "personal" site up where you praise your prior employers and you extol the virtues of work and your pride in your accomplishments at your job.
Step 2: (Optional) Keep a separate social site for your friends (which doesn't explicitly list you by name), also set to private.
Step 3: Get the names of the other applicants and set them up facebook accounts where they list their exploits stealing office supplies, being lazy/napping on the job, and taking pot breaks/drinking at work. Extra Credit for including the phrase "Man, I was so WASTED at work the other day!" anywhere in their profile.
Step 4: ???*
Step 5: Hired!

* Depending on state, Step 4 may be "Get sued for libel" (Do not go to step 5, do not collect a monthly paycheck).

You mean you use your real ID?

You don't think this is my real name do you?

No, this is the name of my mortal enemy.

 

I do the same thing to my employers

It helps me avoid the bad ones and possibly increase my chances with the ones I want.

One interview I casually mentioned seeing a really good performance by a local violin player. I hadn't actually gone, just read a review. I didn't mention I knew she was his daughter, either(she'd married, so different last name). I found that after googling him and finding it in the "thanks" section of her website. That got us to talking about classical music, music magnet schools, etc. After we "shared a common interest", I was a shoe-in compared to the rest of the candidates.

Fortunately, I don't work there anymore and he's since retired:) I did actually listen to some of his daughter's stuff, later, and she /is/ a good violin player.

Hello, potential employer.

How's the googling going? I hope you like reading my slashdot posts. And if you have karma, mod my posts up, too. In addition to hiring me with a nice fat salary.

Re:Interview process improvement

You are using the wrong word.
Your private life should be off limits.
What you do in public is public. Having people judge you by how you act in public is they way that the world works.
But guess what poor judgment will effect your life.

Re:Interview process improvement

>What you do in public is public.

Yes. And why would you bother doing anything for an employer who is petty enough to hold your web presence against you?

At my jobs, the people I've worked for have been into me for who I am.

Somebody checks my facebook page or whatever, it's what it's there for. Somebody has a *problem* with what they find there, they can kiss my ass, and I'd be man enough to say it point blanc even to a boss or prospective boss.

And speaking as a boss, I might do something like this just to test you to see if you have enough integrity to stand up for yourself. If you have a lot of counterculture / political stuff on your shirt sleeve, and you try to pretend to be someone else, I have NO respect for that.

Re:Interview process improvement

Employees'(or prospective employees') personal lives should be strictly off limits unless the employee voluntarily discloses the information as per professional interview guidelines(such as listing interests on a resume' or answering an interviewer's questions).

Why? The information's both public and readily available. If someone's application for employment is dismissed because they appear to be a drunken stoner that enjoys whining about former employers then...why should the prospective employer not be aware of it?

If it was something that they obtained through the use of private detectives, or contacting previous employers then, maybe, fair enough the applicant should be warned. But if they're stupid enough to post any form of incriminating material online what makes you think they'd heed the warning in the first place?

Re:yeh...

Anyone who can handle being stuck in the woods with 60 kids should be able to handle irate customers pretty easily.

Re:This is why...

I make sure that if somebody Googles my real name, their first hit is my resume. Everything else is garbage.

It must be nice to have a name that dwells in relative obscurity. For those of us named things like "John Smith", "Charles Barkley", "Ron Jeremy" and "Clown Anal" that's not quite so easy.