I found this article in the New York Times that talks about companies that google interviewees to find additional information about them. College students seem to be upset because the companies may weight the information they find at online sites like Facebook, Myspace, and Xanga more than their resumes. While some companies claim to be looking for "red flags" in potential employees' personal lives, other companies prefer to separate worklife from social life, ignoring these personal websites all together.
The privacy settings on my Facebook profile are set so that only my friends can see my profile. Since Myspace doesn't offer similar privacy options, I choose not to use it. Many of my friends and family, on the other hand, use both Facebook and Myspace. Considering the article and your own use of these types of sites, here are a few questions:
* For those of you who participate in these online profiles, did you have privacy in mind when you were creating these profiles?
* Has your opinion of these types of sites changed since employers have started using them as a hiring tool?
* For those of you who don't use sites like Facebook and Myspace, did the idea of privacy influence your decision to avoid these sites?
* Are companies going too far by investigating students' personal profiles, or does the responsibility lie more in the students' hands?
New York Times article
The privacy settings on my Facebook profile are set so that only my friends can see my profile. Since Myspace doesn't offer similar privacy options, I choose not to use it. Many of my friends and family, on the other hand, use both Facebook and Myspace. Considering the article and your own use of these types of sites, here are a few questions:
* For those of you who participate in these online profiles, did you have privacy in mind when you were creating these profiles?
* Has your opinion of these types of sites changed since employers have started using them as a hiring tool?
* For those of you who don't use sites like Facebook and Myspace, did the idea of privacy influence your decision to avoid these sites?
* Are companies going too far by investigating students' personal profiles, or does the responsibility lie more in the students' hands?
New York Times article
posted by Anonymous at
5:36 PM
3 Comments:
Just to allow you some insight into previous students' views on this topic, I thought I would link to some posts from last year's class on this same topic:
Proof That Employers Really Do Look at Facebook!
and
Bloggin and Facebook: Privacy Concerns v.3.0
I changed the privacy setting on my facebook account when I heard that professors and employers were looking at them. I think it is the student/employee's responsibility not to put up photos or comments that make them look bad (who wants random strangers to see everything about their lives anyway?) However, I do hope that employers (and professors) know that a good percentage of the things that go up on these sites weren't intended to be taken seriously and I hope they only look out for signs of serious character flaws not just someone who likes to make jokes.
I personally never had a facebook profile. Like you said, my reason was basically privacy--and I think that Facebook definitely is an enabler to stalkerish tendencies. If you know me, you don't need to read about me on Facebook, and if you don't , you should be meeting me personally, not screening me using the random tidbits you find online.
It was also partially because I knew it would be a distraction/become addictive.
However, speaking for many of my friends that do have profiles, they are definitely aware that they are ultimately responsible for what is posted. I think it became a greater concern when we realized that employers were looking into such sites and evaluating students based on such information.
Anyone remember those posters all over the bschool about facebook and its dangers?
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