Many of my students graduate this month and begin searching for that elusive first job. They will enter a very competitive marketplace. Every competitive advantage they have must be exploited. And any competitive disadvantages must be minimized. As we’ve said here before, it’s time to scrub Facebook and MySpace pages for anything that might be unflattering or unprofessional.
This came to mind rather strongly recently after a conversation with my student Caitlan T. Ward. Caitlan commented on one of my blog posts about legal and ethical issues in using social networking sites. She told me about a real life example of what happens when employers check social networking sites of job candidates. Her comments, and our subsequent conversation, were so insightful that I want to share them here.
Caitlan astutely points out that as Facebook gains publicity in the media and in the world of business, it creates many concerns for college students and graduate job seekers.
“I would like to share a short story of my own personal experience of the serious impact of Facebook and MySpace,” Caitlan says. “Last summer, I was hired as a receptionist for a small title company. All the employees were laid back and friendly. My boss was especially casual and welcoming, and not to mention somewhat young for his superior position. He was 33 years old and only a few years out of law school.”
Caitlan says that the first day she met the young boss he was searching around on Myspace. She says it prompted an interesting conversation about Facebook and MySpace. Then it turned weird.
“A few weeks later he was periodically asking me to search for specific people on Facebook and MySpace, individuals who were applying for employee positions at the company,” Caitlan says. “My boss would browse the candidate’s web pages, and although he didn’t make hiring decisions solely based on information he derived from Facebook and MySpace, he did form a conscious judgment of the candidates based on what he saw from pictures, wall posts, personal blogs, online groups, and the list goes on.”
At present, there isn’t much case law regarding social media. There is little guidance since many situations simply have not been tested in court. But we do know that an employer can legally decide not to hire you based on a review of the contents your Facebook or MySpace page. That is, as long as employers do not violate federal or state discrimination laws in using social networking sites in making hiring decisions. For example, an employer cannot legally screen out applicants based on race or ethnicity.
But Caitlan’s words are chilling: “the boss didn’t make hiring decisions based solely on information from Facebook and MySpace, but he did form a conscious judgment of the candidates based on what he saw.” That’s legal and highly instructive.
It is not an invasion of privacy for an employer to gain access to your profile or photos. What is posted on the Internet has a lower “expectation of privacy” than, say, a private home telephone conversation. Once posted on Facebook or MySpace or your blog, the information is available to the public. Therefore, viewing it does not constitute an invasion of privacy.
Caitlan says others began to ask her to surf sites for them on the job. “Soon enough, I actually had several employees asking me to search for their children, ” she says. “Then I realized how much trouble that could cause, so I told everyone I deleted my Facebook and MySpace and couldn’t help them.”
“It was very discomforting to know that my similar information was available, too,” Caitlan says. “People might think businesses, schools, the media, and the police won’t be able to gain access to private Facebook or MySpace pages, but all my boss needed was a young, college student receptionist who was familiar with these sites to get to the page.”
“My experience emphasizes the significant influence the Internet has on society and the importance of limiting personal information posted on the web, especially for graduating college students entering the business world,” Caitlan adds. That is wise counsel.
Thank god for limited facebook profiles!
I knew that employees looked at photos, but I found it interesting that they payed attention to what you say on other people’s walls and what other people say to you. Great article!
Thanks, Bryan. Yes, Google nevers forgets — what we say is out there for all time.
Bryan, note that there are rumors of people breaking past the security encryptions on people’s profiles. I advise caution, even if you are using privacy settings.
Also, read this blog post:
http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2007/06/facebook-privat.html
This is an excellent cautionary tale that I’ll share with my students in the class I’m teaching this summer.
Robert, be sure to explain that “cautionary” has nothing to do with traffic or driving.
Tiffany, I have heard the same in regards to employers breaking past the security encryptions. I have a lot of relations in the government and they can find out pretty much anything, espically in the higher security fields. Once a person messes up, whether it be with the law or school, or anything else, their chance at a job in law enforcement is practically shot.
This past fall, when Towson University was on the news because of the five sororities that got introuble for drinking on campus, the news coverage showed pictures of students (with their faces blurred out) but there was no doubt that two of those pictures were my friend. When I asked her how the news station got hold of her pictures she had no idea. Her Facebook was set to private settings so that only her friends could see her pictures. So pretty much either one of her Facebook friends sent the pictures in (which could be since most people have over 500 friends on Facebook,) someone was either working as an intern or a new employee at the news station and still had access to their facebook, or unfortunately, the news stations now have access to Facebook and have found ways to make undercover accounts in attempts to look like a normal college student so people won’t be hesitant to accept their friend requests. Either way, I can’t believe Facebook has become so prevalent in our society that it is now a source of reference/evidence that reporters can turn to for photos and information. Weird and scary.
I am so glad that this was one of your blog entries. I don’t know why but I found this so entertaining based on personal experience. I worked for the government this summer as a paid intern in the information technology department. I was working on a project for the FBI along with two other student interns and five full-time employees that had full access to the project. I, along with another intern, had to load software onto the computer. That’s all we did all day, so it got really tedious. We’d take breaks and go back to our computers to check our email and facebook. Our co-workers, who ranged from ages 24-48 would periodically come into our office to see what we were up to.
After introducing them to facebook, they all immediately set up their own accounts and added us as friends. This was the one time in my life that I was not scared about a boss seeing my facebook, because my co-workers would stroll into work on Monday and retell their drunken Friday and Saturday nights, and how they managed to drink five margaritas at happy hour.
Not that I had anything to be ashamed of. I kept more to myself, and wasn’t one to be involved in drunken nights I can’t remember, let alone post those pictures on the Internet. I think it’s really important that everyone watches what they post on facebook because they never know who’s looking at them.