Employers care about your public profiles

[BellaDonna]

I came accross this article online and I think it makes some very good points:

 

link removed

 

With MySpace being so popular, many people don't think twice about what they put in their profiles. Employers & law enforcement are starting to search sites like MySpace.

 

I recently had a problem with a family member who thought it was "cool" to post photos of himself drinking and smoking weed on MySpace.

 

Even more recently, a "professional" person I have worked with in the disability field has a MySpace page with photos of himself drinking and with comments that degrade people with disabilities.... calling them "retards". We are still trying to figure out what to do about it at work.

 

People really need to think twice about how they present themselves to the world.

 

I hate to sound like a conservative old lady: But being half naked and portaying oneself as a party animal or drug/alcohol abuser is probably not a good idea. Neither is disclosing your favorite sexual positions.](*,)

 

I'm astonished at how many people have MySpace accounts that do just that- and you can find them so easily by searching for their name and location.

 

Don't put anything online which you would not want your boss to see, especially if your page is so easily found. I can't believe how many people have their first and last names on their MySpace, and want to advertise such things about themselves.

 

BellaDonna

[kb109]

Which is why my page is set to private so only my "friends" that i add can look at it.

[charley]

I agree. I even regularly get shocked at E by things people post and there's their picture next to it. Don't you think someone from your own hometown might go to E sometime? That's why I use my 5 year old picture. Who's going to recognize that? Only my mom or dad and they won't ever be at E. I'm sure of that. Besides, I'm a darn cute 5 year old. ;-)

[xmrth]

MySpace is tacky; I'm surprised people don't think twice about the things they waste their time putting up on there for even their group of friends to see.

 

I just don't get it. I've got SO many better things to do than to take pics of myself and write a page about myself and my interests.

But people will probably always keep on doing it, regardless of their employers being able to find them. It absolutely IS a directory, and you can find people so easily. People like to show off, be cool... show the world they have a lot of time on their hands, too.

[TheRedQueen]

I agree. I even regularly get shocked at E by things people post and there's their picture next to it. Don't you think someone from your own hometown might go to E sometime?

I have no secrets, and according to my mother, I have no shame.

 

It is what it is, and I've got nothing to hide.

[BellaDonna]

I think one great thing about enotalone is that you can preserve your confidentiality pretty well.

 

As soon as you post a photo though, you risk losing that.

 

I do not regret anything I have posted- but I like to stay anonymous. If my mother ever came accross this site, I really don't think I'd want her to see my posts, especially in the sex and romance forum .lol

[charley]

From OP, "Even more recently, a "professional" person I have worked with in the disability field has a MySpace page with photos of himself drinking and with comments that degrade people with disabilities.... calling them "retards". We are still trying to figure out what to do about it at work."

 

This dude needs to be fired if he still works with people with disabilities. I'd print his MySpace page first, then give his MySpace address to his employer with the prints and let him get what he deserves. That's if he still works with the handicapped. Now if he's in an unrelated field now, then I wouldn't do that.

 

I have no qualms about lowering the boom on someone who is a bigot, especially if to the handicapped. I've done that at work once. I'm glad I did. If I hadn't, the creep would still be there treating others like dirt. Since I did, he's gone and replaced by someone nice.

[Dilly]

I have no secrets, and according to my mother, I have no shame.

 

It is what it is, and I've got nothing to hide.

 

I battle with this as well. I don't really like secrets and shame, but there are some things that are better left undisclosed, like my identity, especially being pregnant and unmarried to a family that may pursue custody someday on some bogus charge.

[SilverManic]

I never really thought about this but you are very right I'm so glad I don't put insaine stuff on my myspace or I could not have a job now.

[lunatic]

Hey don't forget about blogs too. Any public area on the Internet you share personal stuff takes a huge chance of being misinterpreted by your employer. I am with Bella here on being anonymous as much as possible. I too have a my-space site but, I don't share any thing with the public and I have a pretty bland site. I hide my friends because they have been known to show the party animal side of them too often.

 

Be careful about what personal stuff you share and even more careful about what activities you show in the pics (esp. illegal stuff).

[charley]

Actually, this subject was just on the radio last night, but with a different slant.

 

It was in regard to setting up a MySpace account as a personal resume and employers are impressed with that, if well done. At least that's what it said on radio.

 

So perhaps a positve one can help as much as a negative one. The one thing the radio was clear about is that some employers are looking applicants up in MySpace.

 

Personally, I'd just get my own web address and start my own personal site, if I wanted to. That doesn't cost much and it's easy to do. However, I've only done this for my employers and for company I started. I've never done a personal one.

[Day_Walker]

I have read these same articles and something can be said for being a party animal or a drug user but as far as sexual positions and other matters of taste by using such tactics they are opening themselves up for a lawsuit. The problem is that myspace and other websites are considered to be public. If I was one of these persons lawyer who did not get hired I would sue the company for defamation, if statutes are not going to sort these things out then the courts will unfortunately that will take much longer.

[charley]

I don't see how the MySpace site being public offers any protection. You could get fired for saying inappropriate things to the local newspaper. That's public too. So where's the protection there? Also, where's the defamation? It'd be the MySpace account user who'd said whatever things about themself. How's the the employer defaming the individual? It was the individual who'd said or shown whatever.

 

Even if you had a case, which I doubt, how are you going to afford a lawyer?

 

It takes money and lots of it to hire a lawyer and sue someone. That requires an income, which likely requires a job. See the catch 22 there?

 

Fairness under the law in civil court is for those who can afford it (afford the lawyer(s)). That's even true in criminal court to a substantial extent. If you want justice, you have to be able to afford the lawyer(s) to have a chance. It also helps to be in the right, but I've observed that's not always necessary. However, money is always necessary. Our legal system isn't fair, but there it is.

[Dilly]

If I was one of these persons lawyer who did not get hired I would sue the company for defamation, if statutes are not going to sort these things out then the courts will unfortunately that will take much longer.

 

Honestly, though, companies are much smarter than that. There'd be no way to prove that was the reason you didn't get the job. They would simply get the interviewers on the panel to say something derogatory re: a followup interview or some other claim that they didn't like the person's answer or they found someone with better experience. Companies are savvy and know how to keep this stuff off the written record and keep it verbal. Of course, that requires all parties on the panel to agree to this.

[Day_Walker]

Defamation is not about spreading something derogatory, it just has to be offensive to a person of normal sensibilities. You also have to understand the defamation laws. As far as the cost, if the lawyer believes that you can win then payment can be on a contingency fee basis. Depending on the job, the damages can be quiet large several hundred thousands if not millions.

[HellFrost666]

I have heard about people losing their jobs because of MySpace. And some employers search Myspace when checking out new candidates.

 

I think the most rediculous example I heard was a girl who had a pic of herself up at work. In the picture her bra strap was showing, so she was fired for posting inapropriate pics of herself in the company uniform.

[equinox]

I find myspace to be huge waste of time but I did make a myspace to see what all the fuss was about it. What shocked me was how sone young women portrayed themselves. I did a search of women living in Dublin (my city) and loads of them had profiles and pictures up that were very personally revealing.

[charley]

I know a guy who lost his job for saying things to the newspaper that embarrassed his employer. I don't know the exact grounds he was fired for, but it was his own fault. He was a prison guard who'd abused a handicapped prisoner in county jail. The prisoner was a triplegic. I don't know if that's correct term, but both legs and an arm were paralyzed. The guard's rationale for abusing the guy was that he wouldn't walk and was thereforeeee uncooperative. In his efforts to justify himself in the newspaper, the guard admitted that'd he'd done those things. My father and I were the ones who originally brought it to the attention of the local newspaper after the man's family had come to my father in depseration for help. My dad is locally prominent. I also called the ACLU. The local jail got a lot of bad PR in the paper and had the ACLU all over them. The guard's own big mouth in his writing letters to the editor to justify himself provided the best evidence for a lawsuit against the jail that the prisoner won. Also, this paralyzed guy was only supposed to be in for 3 days, but they kept him 9, apparently a punishment for not cooperating? We never were able to get an answer as to why he was there 9 days. However, they released him 1.5 days after I called the ACLU. The guard wasn't fired for what things he'd done to the handicapped prisoner. He was fired for talking to the newspaper about it.

 

An employer can choose not to hire you because they think you are not appropriate for their company. That's all they have to tell you. They don't have to list their reasons.

 

Then can let you go for any variety of reasons. Shooting your mouth off in the local paper is obviously one way to get fired. MySpace sounds like another possibility.

[Dilly]

An employer can choose not to hire you because they think you are not appropriate for their company. That's all they have to tell you. They don't have to list their reasons.

 

And it's as simple as that. They don't have to have a written record detailing this component of their rationale or anything that could incriminate them for their choice. Often, in order to get the written records from the interview, a court order is necessary anyway. Reasonable cause must precede access. Unless an interviewer had loose lips (very unprofessional), there's little chance of that kind of sensitive information making it full-circle back to the candidate. Really, companies are pretty smart. If one actually told a candidate they turned them away for their myspace postings, ect, then the company's HR department needs to step up its SOP's or at least its compliance.

[charley]

My father is very fair in his hiring practices. In fact, we have a higher percentage of women and minorities at his company than is required by law and far higher than is the norm for our community. In fact, women are the majority, including in management. Furthermore, we don't tolerate rasicm or other discrimination between employees either. I can think of one case where I got a white supremacist idiot fired for saying racially insulting things to others in the lunchroom. He was directing it at individuals by name. Now if you look at my profile pic, I'm about as lily white as it gets, yet this stuff really P's me off. I didn't have enough pull to get him fired the same day, but I tried. He was fired the next day. The reason for the delay was the managers were arguing over whether to give him "sensitivity training" or fire him. My dad said, "Send him into my office right now and I'll give him sensitivity training." His sensitivity training was being fired and served with a no trepass order and told to get off the premises. My dad is 6'4", 250 lbs, and can be very intimidating when fully p'd off. I have to admit, my dad does have a talent for sensitivity training.

 

I know darn well my father's company is fair. More fair by far than is the norm.

 

Even so, my father also has a standing policy that if anyone is not hired, or is fired, they are not told the reason. That is standing orders for all managers and is for legal reasons. It would be just stupid for a company to list the reasons. The exception is if someone is laid off. That just means there was not sufficient need for their job skills anymore, or not enough available hours. Then "laid off due to lack of available work" is the reason given. That is very different from being fired or terminated. Laid off means they can get unemployment easily. Fired or terminated means they are not eligable for unemployment (in most cases). Also, if someone quits they are not eligable for unemployment (in most cases).

[charley]

FYI - If you're leaving a company, it's best to leave on good terms for many reasons. One reason is so they hopefully won't fight your unemployment application. There are many other good reasons not to burn your bridges. I've personally gone back and worked again later somewhere I worked before.

[Day_Walker]

FYI - If you're leaving a company, it's best to leave on good terms for many reasons. One reason is so they hopefully won't fight your unemployment application. There are many other good reasons not to burn your bridges. I've personally gone back and worked again later somewhere I worked before.

 

Well unless a company wants to get sued they will only divulgve the dates of your employment and will not comment on how effective you are or how effective you arent. That is the only way they cannot get sued, so unless you plan on going back to a company then feel free to burn bridges.

[vandgsmom]

I have no secrets, and according to my mother, I have no shame.

 

It is what it is, and I've got nothing to hide.

 

I am totally with you here, Red.

 

I can understand some people's need for privacy in dealing with their problems, but the need of some people to hide all details of their actual life, or to withhold information only either taints the effectivness of the advice that others waste their time trying to give them, or it adds a cloud of doubt for those reading.

 

As was pointed out to me several days ago by my favorite stalker, I am the same person everywhere. Easy to find, easy to track, easy to find out about. I am not scared or worried about anyone researching the details of my life as I have nothing to hide.

 

Now, you probably won't find my home address or social, but other than that my life is all there, like Red. If I was so ashamed of my problems, I certainly wouldn't ask strangers for help with em.

[Cassie]

I enjoy retaining my anonymity on ENotalone. I talk about some personal stuff here, and I enjoy not censoring what I'm putting out there (or having it come back to bite me in the butt later).

 

Some people have little regard to their privacy. I came accross a profile of an attorney I know recently, and it was a bit shocking how he was presenting himself on his personal page. I believe it caused a few ripples at his job.