Employment Application Question

[mamacatnv]

I still don't think it is their business and honestly I would not want to work for someone who had a, you must reveal all your life to us type attitude. I stand firm, none of their business what is on my FB, I keep it very private, it is mine.

 

[FireDancer]

I still don't think it is their business and honestly I would not want to work for someone who had a, you must reveal all your life to us type attitude. I stand firm, none of their business what is on my FB, I keep it very private, it is mine.

Well, that is your right. You can refuse to disclose the information (though they will most likely find it anyway) and they can refuse to consider you for employment if they decide it is warranted.

 

[happygirl]

I still don't think it is their business and honestly I would not want to work for someone who had a, you must reveal all your life to us type attitude. I stand firm, none of their business what is on my FB, I keep it very private, it is mine.

I want all of my kids teacher checked out. I have no problem with school officals making sure a teacher is on the up and up. If that means checking facebook so be it

 

[kamik86]

My job didn't even ask those questions and mine requires a government security clearance (so they ask how much money you owe, if you have ever seen a mental health professional, for the names of all your family and anyone you lived with in the last 7 years and if they are citizens or not, and a whole bunch of other things but even they don't need that info.

The worst thing is if you have the persons name you can just look up if they have a profile anyway why bother asking? I have a myspace and facebook but both were made when I was in college myspace hasn't been updated in like 5 years and facebook has only been once or twice and still barely has any info (and a job seeker would have a hard time seeing it since I would have to friend you first and since I never log on would never see the request.)

 

[NotUrsula]

As for the political candidate thing, I make sure not to post anything overly political on my pages. Nothing on either side of most hot button issues. I post about technology issues but most are not emotional enough to cause any problem.

Just FYI, I wasn't actually speaking of political postings. I was addressing the issue of Googling potential candidates, and I was speaking of political contributions. Federal law requires political organizations to file reports listing anyone who gave more than $200 in an election cycle. Most of those reports end up online these days, and for the sake of simplified bookkeeping, most organizations list ALL donors. If I know your name and address, I can find that information in just a couple of minutes.

 

[Handbag Lady]

I really do not believe whether or not I have a FB account is anyones business nor is it relevant to whether or not I am qualified to do a job.

I agree.


ETA: Our department at work HAS a Facebook page, so it certainly isn't frowned upon here.

 

[FireDancer]

Just FYI, I wasn't actually speaking of political postings. I was addressing the issue of Googling potential candidates, and I was speaking of political contributions. Federal law requires political organizations to file reports listing anyone who gave more than $200 in an election cycle. Most of those reports end up online these days, and for the sake of simplified bookkeeping, most organizations list ALL donors. If I know your name and address, I can find that information in just a couple of minutes.

Ah, no worries then, I don't contribute to any of them. I guess if a company has a certain leaning (either way) they should be allowed to hire like minded individuals. I don't have any problem with it. I don't necessarily like it, but there are many things I don't like that are allowed.

 

[Sarah_Rose]

I work in the school system and I am a relatively new hire. I was never asked to provide any sort of personal website, social networking site links, etc. Never discussed at all. That being said, I don't have anything on mine that is damaging, maybe personal to an extent - more like inside jokes and things. But nothing inappropriate or damaging. I do have pictures in albums from my trips to Epcot and drinking around the world but my page is private and you must be a friend to see more than my name and my profile picture which is of me and my dog at the moment. I can think of a few teachers I work with though who have some very inappropriate pictures on theirs and I bet their students' parents would be appalled to see their child's teacher in that light.

I have never been asked about it, either, and neither have any other teachers that I know (including new hires for the 2009/2010 year). However, I don't think asking is a bad idea. My DH (who has also worked as a teacher) was contacted just last week over Facebook by a former student who was a grade 10 when he taught him, and who is now a freshman in college. Kids look up their teachers - it is simply a fact of the world that we live in right now. And I wouldn't want even a former student seeing pictures of me presented in anything but a positive light - the schools and school boards feel the same way.

I also know some teachers with very "revealing" profile pictures. I just can't imagine it - I hope they realize that the kids are passing that photo around behind their back.

 

[golfgal]

I wouldn't want to work for a company that asked those questions, unless the position requried some sort of security clearance and it was nessesary for a background check.

Well good luck holding a job in the near future because a LOT of companies are starting to check social networking sites and DO make hiring decisions based on what is found there.

I think it is a totally appropriate question to ask when hiring someone as it gives a better indication of what a person is like than a resume.

 

[bettymae1121]

Well good luck holding a job in the near future because a LOT of companies are starting to check social networking sites and DO make hiring decisions based on what is found there.

I think it is a totally appropriate question to ask when hiring someone as it gives a better indication of what a person is like than a resume.

I don't have a problem with employers googling applicants to see what public info might be out there (if you put it out for public consumption, you assume the risk), but to ask for entry into private social sites is a bit much.

 

[mamacatnv]

I want all of my kids teacher checked out. I have no problem with school officals making sure a teacher is on the up and up. If that means checking facebook so be it

How does what one has on a social website really reflect on whether or not they are a good teacher or a person of outstanding character?
Criminal background checks, absolutely, what they have on FB not so much.
There is really no way to know if someone is on the up and up - pedophiles who are public school teachers generally do not advertise their hobbies on Facebook.

I think it is an invasion of privacy and employers are going too far.
If they asked to see your underwear drawer would you let them? I mean really, where is the line of ones personal privacy?

 

[AshleyW]

How does what one has on a social website really reflect on whether or not they are a good teacher or a person of outstanding character?
Criminal background checks, absolutely, what they have on FB not so much.
There is really no way to know if someone is on the up and up - pedophiles who are public school teachers generally do not advertise their hobbies on Facebook.

I think it is an invasion of privacy and employers are going too far.
If they asked to see your underwear drawer would you let them? I mean really, where is the line of ones personal privacy?

There is nothing private about Facebook, that is the point of it.

The underwear drawer is apples to oranges. I don't put my underwear drawer out visible for the world to see like I do with my Facebook. Now, if I took pictures of my underwear drawer and posted them online and then someone asked to see the pictures - that would be a comparible situation.

If you don't want someone "invading your privacy", then stay off the internet.

 

[mamacatnv]

There is nothing private about Facebook, that is the point of it.
The underwear drawer is apples to oranges. I don't put my underwear drawer out visible for the world to see like I do with my Facebook. Now, if I took pictures of my underwear drawer and posted them online and then someone asked to see the pictures - that would be a comparible situation.

If you don't want someone "invading your privacy", then stay off the internet.

If they have to ask me for my access code then they are invading my privacy. Find what they want via regular search features but when you ask me to open the door for you to review what is inside, IMO that is a personal invasion and it is none of their business.

 

[AshleyW]

If they have to ask me for my access code then they are invading my privacy. Find what they want via regular search features but when you ask me to open the door for you to review what is inside, IMO that is a personal invasion and it is none of their business.

They aren't asking for an "access code" - that is your password. They're asking how to ACCESS the page. As in.. tell them how to find your page on Facebook. So if they asked me, I'd say "Go to www.facebook.com/ashleyw" -- that is access information.

 

[FireDancer]

If they have to ask me for my access code then they are invading my privacy. Find what they want via regular search features but when you ask me to open the door for you to review what is inside, IMO that is a personal invasion and it is none of their business.

With very few exceptions (Bozeman, MT comes to mind) I have not heard of anyone asking for log-in credentials. In the OP they asked for access in relation to the address or URL, not the log in credentials as I read it. Asking for the log in credentials is absolutely going to far, asking for the address is not.

If they do ask for your password you are free to refuse, as I would. I don't give out log in information for anything.

 

[Sarah_Rose]

They aren't asking for an "access code" - that is your password. They're asking how to ACCESS the page. As in.. tell them how to find your page on Facebook. So if they asked me, I'd say "Go to www.facebook.com/ashleyw" -- that is access information.

And I'd much rather provide this information to a prospective employer than have them search for "Sarah Rose" on Facebook (because they're going to do it, anyway, even if you don't give them the access url) and come up with another "Sarah Rose" in Seattle who is a college student who hasn't learned about internet privacy yet and has pictures of herself smoking a joint with a beer in her hand.

If a prospective employer is going to search for me on the Internet, anyway, I'd rather them find ME than have them think they found me...

 

[NotUrsula]

RE: Getting the right address. Something that is very hot on college campuses right now among the about-to-graduate is the practice of trying to obscure your name so that it won't come up when an employer searches for it. However, most students don't want to temporarily quit using their profiles or make it too hard for their friends to find them, so they are mostly making the changes easy to guess. "Ashley Johnson" becomes "Johnson Ashley", etc., or Sam Nelson becomes Sam Neilsen, and so on.

The thing is, employers now have the expection that a new graduate WILL have a FB page, and sometimes if they don't find one they will assume that it is being deliberately hidden. Therefore, they are using software to guess likely permutations and looking for those.

If you're going to assume an alias, make it a good one that is TOTALLY unrelated to your real name. Use the old ink pen in the phonebook technique if you have to.

 

[FireDancer]

RE: Getting the right address. Something that is very hot on college campuses right now among the about-to-graduate is the practice of trying to obscure your name so that it won't come up when an employer searches for it. However, most students don't want to temporarily quit using their profiles or make it too hard for their friends to find them, so they are mostly making the changes easy to guess. "Ashley Johnson" becomes "Johnson Ashley", etc., or Sam Nelson becomes Sam Neilsen, and so on.

The thing is, employers now have the expection that a new graduate WILL have a FB page, and sometimes if they don't find one they will assume that it is being deliberately hidden. Therefore, they are using software to guess likely permutations and looking for those.

If you're going to assume an alias, make it a good one that is TOTALLY unrelated to your real name. Use the old ink pen in the phonebook technique if you have to.

Why would anyone do any of this? Just make sure you never put anything online, even in high school or college, that you wouldn't want your future employer (or future children) to see. That takes a lot less work. Besides, do you think there is no electronic trail of identity out there somewhere?