Let’s be honest. Who hasn’t used Facebook or another social media website to dig for dirt on an ex-boyfriend, check out a picture of a potential setup or see how that old classmate you despised is looking these days (and secretly hoping she didn’t age well).
If you’re checking out their profiles, they may be looking at yours, too. And they’re not the only ones. According to a new CareerBuilder survey, 37 percent of companies say they use social networking sites to research job prospects. Of the employers who don’t use social networking sites to get information on candidates, 15 percent say their company prohibits the practice. Eleven percent report they don’t use social media now but plan to start using it for screening.
Want to know more about why hiring managers use social media to research candidates and what you should — and shouldn’t — post on your social media profiles if you want to get hired? Take a look at the infographic, below.
WATCH: Video on using social media to connect with employers
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Once online, forever public. But once a 'good candidate' is found, what happesn when the decision is based on how a person 'looks' ? That is very subjective, is this the right tie? Does my honesty and integrity penalize me for the smallest things? Amn I too short, too fat, to dark, to light, fun looking, 'hip' enough? Does my haircut look nerdy? Until people can trust that these 'flaws' will not cost them a job, there will always be an element of distrust.
This month Maryland has become the first state to ban employers from requesting login info for social media accounts from job candidates. Similar laws are being considered by more than a half dozen states. If an employer gains access to your social media sites they can tell or guess your age, find out your relationship status - gay and/or straight, religious beliefs, height, weight, political views, how many children you have, groups you like...all stuff they can figure into their hiring decision. It's discrimination if you lose a job due to "negative" info (in their minds) an employer finds on social media sites - but difficult to prove in court. Best way to go? Lock up public access to your sites. And if an employer asks you for login info? Try this: "When I agreed to the Terms and Conditions of using Facebook I agreed not to provide access to my account. If I was hired for this position and someone outside the company asked me for login information so they could access company information, wouldn't that be against company policy?" They might eliminate you from consideration for the job - but shows you have character. Hmmm. Character a disqualifying characteristic for a job.
This works both ways. Whatever a company does to you in the process of doing anything (interviewing, recruiting, hiring, providing customer service) determines whether we buy their products or services Botch the interview process themselves and that same level of scrutiny for an employer and their staff is made. I worked for a director that had no facebook presence. So does he have no personality ? I hold that against someone, tells me they are lurkers and dishonest. Tells me they have no friends they really trust, just close associates that are bought & paid for. That director would shadow his staff without their permission, he constantly lied too. So take social networking for what it's worth. As a potential employee, we may not be paying anyone, but we're contributing the best years of our lives and the stakes are too high to wind up making a poor choice on which employer and career to develop into. Then again, sometimes you have to make the best of a poor choice ?
Your resume is getting less and less attention, less than 10 seconds at last count. Now, please excuse me, but this is non-sense. How in the world can anyone, including the great Kreskin know anything about anyone worthy of exploration in that amount of time? A decent introduction takes more time than 10 seconds. Now employers skip the intro and get right down to digging up dirt, spending countless hours researching you on line? More is about how the employer wants to know everything about you before you get to know them. You still know nothing about them other than what they want you to know. We all know this is a game meant for fools. This is not about getting a job, this is about invasion of privacy and discrimination. Face it. If you work for someone else, you have no right to a personal life. No one is that stellar, fit or right for every job out there. Yet, you all persist in believing. Everyone who endeavors in social media must have a mental aptitude far and above the hype, drama and LOL's out there. You must be and act like you are your own CEO and CFO as well as the HR Dept. Know what ever you do can and will be held against you. You can have your accounts hacked, misrepresented and even crashed and never know who did it. There is not a lot you can do when this happens. Here is the unabashed truth. No matter what it is you may think you are doing or want to do, YOU are selling your time and it is a limited supply item. You exchange time for a allotment of money. So what is your time here worth? You give up a lot when you do this. In exchange you must know, what you are able to do with that time is up to your talent and the ability of the employer to empower you to use that talent. You are never in control and they can get rid of you just as fast as they hire you. For no reason whatsoever. Quite simply, when you open yourself up to the theory of working for someone else, you have no control over what anyone else does. Only how you respond to it. There is nothing else to be gained, lost or stolen by anyone especially when it comes to all kinds of agreements and contracts. Are you really going to self limit your expectations and growth potential with an agreement? All employers are not created equal, just like the candidates who approach them. Are we all that desparate we have given up all hope of what it is you are put here for and are willing to sell ourselves and freedoms simply for a paycheck that is sometimes not worth the paper it is written on? Downsizing, cut backs, constantly doing more with less and less. Look in this life, day and age, who wins or loses is only a game for those who can not realize, no matter how long you may live, it is a zero sum game. You came here naked and when you leave, you can't take anything with you. So you better figure out what it is that makes you happy while you are here. Money is the greatest equalizer of all time. Without it, you are no better or worse than the person sitting next to you. Think about that for more than 10 seconds when you have a chance.
The same is said for people looking for work. We should also use social networking sites to research the people who are interviewing us and the company.
Good morning everybody
I am a highly motivated, Senior Quality System Manager with high skills of team building, leadership and decision making seeking a new opportunity as a Site Quality Leader.
I have a master degree in Chemistry with twenty-three (23) years of pharmaceutical (Quality Assurance, Quality Control, Technical Service, Manufacturing and Regulatory Compliance) and scientific/technical exposure. Project Management, Validation, and Parenteral (Sterile Solutions) knowledge.
Fourteen years (14) of experience working in Pharmaceuticals under Consent Decree (Schering-Plough, and Warner-Lambert) developing, establishing and maintaining quality programs.
College teaching experience. Certified as Food Safety Manager (CFSM), ASQ Certified Pharmaceutical GMP Professional (CPGP), ASQ Certified HACCP Auditor (CHA) and ASQ Six Sigma Black Belt Certification (CSSBB) pending to examination.
If you need any help just lets me know.
Best Regards,
Oscar Acosta
oacosta60@gmail.com
If the potential employer can't think of a more rational means of judging candidates, then the candidate might have reason to doubt the potential employer's general managerial temperament...
