August 1, 2008 at 4:04 pm
~paul hewitt (8/1/2008)
Given that HR people have no way to be certain that any information they find is genuine, I don't think they should take any action based upon what they find on sites like Facebook. HR cannot even know if the information was posted by the person concerned, or it if is maliciously posted by someone else ...
Well said, Paul. So much information found in Google indexes doesn't have enough context to positively identify A Person. And based on other comments on this editorial, I think I may do a Facebook and Myspace page for myself this weekend to prevent someone from potentially taking my name and slandering me. I have a blog, but searching my name won't get you there. There's a Wayne County in West Virginia, so it's not very easy to find me online period. To further control the public release of information and my searchability, I bought a domain to post my resume and routed all email through that site. More recently I've bought another domain for a WordPress SQL Server blog where I'll also have a sanitized version of my resume available. But I'm definitely going to be careful to keep it sanitized of work references.
A friend of mine lost a probable job because of his Myspace page. He had a lock on a job as a tech writer on a nationally syndicated radio show and they found his page, and as the show is on the conservative side of the political spectrum, they told him he was no longer being considered for the position. His sin? He's an experimental photographer, and he photographs nude women painted with fluorescing paint under black light. It is not erotic photography, it is not sexually explicit, but it was enough to cost him the job.
-----
[font="Arial"]Knowledge is of two kinds. We know a subject ourselves or we know where we can find information upon it. --Samuel Johnson[/font]
August 2, 2008 at 9:11 am
Many of the social networking sites have the ability to screen who can see what information about you - you can lock down your facebook profile, you can create groups for your blog on LiveJournal such that each post can have access limited to specific groups of people.
So, my attitude on it all is that I assume anything I leave "unlocked" can and will be seen by employers. So I don't say or do anything that is controversial. If I want to discuss religion, politics, etc. I do it under friends lock, or if I want to have that kind of discussion on a forum I will use a pseudonym.
I didn't really see the need of having a pseudonym here at SQL Server Central because I don't think my views on technology are particularly controversial, but who knows? 😉
--
Anye Mercy
"Service Unavailable is not an Error" -- John, ENOM support
"You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means." -- Inigo Montoya in "Princess Bride"
"Civilization exists by geologic consent, subject to change without notice." -- Will Durant
August 2, 2008 at 11:19 am
I'm on the first page of "Steve Jones" on Google. Not sure if that's good or bad.
Follow me on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/way0utwest
Forum Etiquette: How to post data/code on a forum to get the best help
My Blog: www.voiceofthedba.com
August 3, 2008 at 4:33 pm
I am with most people here. If you post it (and don't restrict access to it) it's public and anyone can read it. I have just googled myself and there are plenty of others with the same name but only one link was me. I don't like that employers may cyber-snoop as it allows them to discriminate but you can't stop them from reading information in the public domain. I am concerned that false information can be posted about you without your knowledge and that an employer may mistake someone else's information for yours. I would hope that most hiring managers/HR people would be sensible enough to take everything they read online with a grain of salt.
Technology is great but there can be a price to pay for it.
Nicole Bowman
Nothing is forever.
August 3, 2008 at 5:51 pm
If you are a competent HR person you will be wanting reliable information about potential candidates. Google isnt the place to get it.
August 3, 2008 at 9:26 pm
Heh... during my most recent interview, I was informed that I had been "Googled".
Unfortunately, it's human nature to believe just about anything that appears on the web whether it's good or bad, but especially if it's bad. Not sure anything can be done about it, but that does bring back the point... don't post anything on the web that you don't want someone else to know.
How do you keep people from posting malicious posts about you? PORKCHOPS at point blank range! 😛
--Jeff Moden
August 4, 2008 at 11:46 am
Or maybe Google yourself and look for inappropriate things others have posted. It might make sense to be aware of them and have a reasonable explanation to give to potential employers.
Follow me on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/way0utwest
Forum Etiquette: How to post data/code on a forum to get the best help
My Blog: www.voiceofthedba.com
August 4, 2008 at 3:23 pm
One thing that's recommended by privacy experts and such is to periodically do various "vanity searches" in Google, Yahoo, etc. Plug in your own name, see what comes up. Try the last 4 of your Social Security number (or comparable for other countries). (Don't use your whole SSN. That's not secure.) Part of this is to find if any cached pages have a fake "you" on them, or if there's any false/libelous data out there.
Would be easy enough to use the same methodology to see what an HR person would find if they looked for you online.
If an HR dept did a search for my name, and found something they consider offensive and unemployable, most likely I wouldn't like working for that company any more than they would like having me work there. In my case, the most likely thing for me to be dropped for from such a search would be my religion - in which case, I'm happy to not work there!
- Gus "GSquared", RSVP, OODA, MAP, NMVP, FAQ, SAT, SQL, DNA, RNA, UOI, IOU, AM, PM, AD, BC, BCE, USA, UN, CF, ROFL, LOL, ETC
Property of The Thread
"Nobody knows the age of the human race, but everyone agrees it's old enough to know better." - Anon
Viewing 8 posts - 61 through 67 (of 67 total)
You must be logged in to reply to this topic. Login to reply