Myspace profile? It could cost you your next job

[Indy500]

Badenoch & Clark, an international consultancy that places thousands of professional staff in jobs every year, said that checking social networking sites was routine for recruiters.Its research found that almost two thirds (62 per cent) of British executives were signed up to Facebook, MySpace or another social networking site, so were well equipped to dig the digital dirt on that apparently ideal candidate.

One in five employers admitted that they used the sites to search for information on candidates and looked at how they projected themselves, another survey, conducted by the networking site Viadeo, found.

Almost two thirds said the information they found there influenced a recruitment decision, while a quarter said that they had changed their mind and decided not to hire someone because of what was online.

http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/the_web/article3300531.ece

Seems as unemployment rises, we can expect employers to in effect dictate what we can do with our private lives...

 

[Tom0]

Donno what to think of that, I mean its fair enough that employer wouldnt want to hire a necrophilliac, but as you say, what does it have to do with them. It is a bit wrong.

 

[Liquid_Entity]

The blessings of using my dj alias on facebook/myspack - nobody in the real world knows me

 

[Indy500]

Donno what to think of that, I mean its fair enough that employer wouldnt want to hire a necrophilliac, but as you say, what does it have to do with them. It is a bit wrong.

Defeats the point of references, CRB checks etc doesn't it?

 

[Rotty]

If you put the information in the public domain then its for all to see, I have no issue with this and if I was recruiting may well do the same myself ( wouldn't have done till you gave me the idea )

 

[platypus]

Another reason to hide my facebook profile from searches.

 

[Indy500]

If you put the information in the public domain then its for all to see

I guess thats a fair point, which is why I don't have a profile

I have no issue with this and if I was recruiting may well do the same myself ( wouldn't have done till you gave me the idea )

Lol.

 

[chimponarope]

We've done it at work to be honest. It can change your perception of people looking at their web personas especially before an interview. Sort of started off as a joke to see if the young lads had one (trainee post) and then we started discovering it does open up a whole lot of info on people. Problem can be trying to decide if it's people playing about on the web or if they are actually like that.

 

[Sic]

I fully expect to be "googled" when I've applied for a job. That's why my facebook is totally hidden, I don't even think my myspace is returned when you google my name and the sites that do come up and are linked only contain generic, family friendly information. nothing about my obsession with the dead

 

[Energize]

Exactly why I don't sign up to social networking websites. I find it a good idea to keep online and offline life seperate.

 

[Muffin`]

nothing about my obsession with the dead

Undertakers might not bother Googling, Pathologists probably would. Or maybe you want to become a euthanasia consultant?

 

[The Dread Pirate]

my Myspace and Facebook profiles are as random as I am in real life so it won't effect me or my job in the slightest

 

[Dolph]

Seems fair enough to me, as Rotty said, if you put information about yourself in the public domain, available for everyone to see, then why should people not take that public statement about yourself into account?

People seem to expect that their private lives and choices should have no effect on their employability, yet private behaviour can tell you a lot about the person and how they behave/think, as well as detail whether they do anything that could potentially bring the company into disrepute.

 

[Kell_ee001]

My boss is a "friend" on my FB His site gives a much worse impression than mine though

 

[Sic]

Undertakers might not bother Googling, Pathologists probably would. Or maybe you want to become a euthanasia consultant?

an obsession with the dead might lead me to be a slightly biased consultant!

my Myspace and Facebook profiles are as random as I am in real life so it won't effect me or my job in the slightest

those who proclaim themselves to be random are, very often, just trying way too hard to impress people. It doesn't work.

 

[platypus]

If you search for my name on google, all you get is shed loads of results about a guy who photographs/studies/details/talks about waterfalls, a family planning clinic in Brandon (MA), and someone who is a leading professor in the study of Sharks.

 

[Hen_Dawg]

Another reason to hide my facebook profile from searches.

That's it. My FB profile is locked down, hidden from web search and I'm not in any networks so they can't check me out. (I hope!)
Having said that I've got nothing on there to be ashamed of.

In the case of myspace, which is a bit more public by nature then you have to expect employers to have a quick look at you

 

[The Dread Pirate]

those who proclaim themselves to be random are, very often, just trying way too hard to impress people. It doesn't work.

Hey I don't have to feign randomness to impress people in fact most people are put off by it.

 

[ChrisJSY]

If you search for my name on google, all you get is shed loads of results about a guy who photographs/studies/details/talks about waterfalls, a family planning clinic in Brandon (MA), and someone who is a leading professor in the study of Sharks.

Or maybe the platypus itself?
I SEE YOU NOW.

 

[uber soldat]

Thats why i never put pictures on facebook