Is Facebook a tool for employers?
July 23, 2009Someone said to me recently that they search Facebook for anyone they are considering employing, and if there’s unsavoury photos (etc) on their page, then that person is probably not a suitable employee.
I heard another person say he was on Facebook with some mates from work, and they were sharing photos and stories of fun times… until their boss requested to be friends with one of them. To make a long story short, it turned ugly and disciplinary action was taken by the boss.
What happened to keeping Facebook for friends and family? Should I feel obliged to make friends out of purely business contacts? Do I want them to know what I do in the weekend? Is it any of their business? Would bosses and clients be offended if I declined their friend request?
There are plenty of other forums for business networking. LinkedIn.com is a great one for international contacts. Vbiznz.co.nz an excellent New Zealand site. Where do you go for business networking online?
[...] I read something in an admin and support services blog by Heather McDonald of “Your Right Hand”: [...]
I actually had a job interview once at a recruitment agency. During the interview, social media came up. The interviewer admitted that she had tried to find my Facebook page but couldn’t see anything because of my privacy settings.
I then admitted that I’d researched her and had found out the last two places that she had worked at, the job roles and awards she had won, the high school that she went to and even a high school photo!
Since then, I have two Facebook accounts. One is totally open – no privacy settings – and I add photos from around Christchurch, a couple of sporting photos and the odd holiday snap. I also connect to anyone that I’ve met through some other business network.
My second Facebook account is only connected to friends and family and is totally locked up. Maximum privacy settings with “friends only”.
In the case you mentioned, it sounds like the people you mentioned should never have accepted their boss’ friend request! Ok he/she might have felt a bit put out but they would have been within their rights to refuse the request.
Plus in the case of people searching for anyone that they’re looking to employ – ok they get a brief idea of what the person gets up to but it’s quite unfair to judge their working life based on a few pictures from their social life. Has that employer never had a couple of drinks? Have they never been to a karaoke bar and made a fool of themselves?
I guess it all comes down to whether we want to employ sterile robots or people with genuine personalities!