Did you know that new employers look at Facebook?

Question

As part of the information gathering process, some new employers are also looking at Facebook to get more information on the 'real' you before an interview.

Has this happened to you?

Answer 1

It hasn't happened to me. But i did know that their is a growing trend of employers doing this.

Answer 2

many employers often do check up on potential employees 2 c what kind of person they're hiring.part of the background check includes checking 4 web profiles on MySpace, Facebook, & UTube. they check these as a precaution 2 c what kinda life they live. what they expose online says a lot about a person. nowadays, they even include credit chex in security chex 2 c if some 1's responsible or not. this is a gauge 2 c how well they can manage $$$. 4 example, if some 1 cannot manage credit well, they won't b hired 2 handle $$$. potential employers check everything, depending on comp policy. now 4 federal jobs, they may check 2 c if there's any felonies. some jobs require a spotless record in order 2 NOT b a security risk 4 certain jobs. this is y its so important 2 keep yer nose clean by not having an online profile, & NEVER keeping bad company in yer personal life. SOME ppl keep their personal life seperate from their work life, & others r the same all the time, it depends on the person. its best however, 2 live such a life in which u have notheing 2 hide from any 1, & that kinda life leads 2 u not caring what others find about u, cuz if u live yer life 4 God, u'll have nothing 2 hide.  

Answer 3

Yes -- and not only new employers but both old and new. Social networking sites such as Facebook allow employers to get a peek at how you really are, and can make decisions for or against you depending on what they see. It really depends on what you say and show in your pages.  

Here are some articles on people losing their jobs or not getting the jobs they've applied for because of their social networking pages

'Facebook' lost policeman top job http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/beds/...

Job applicants' online musings get hard look http://www.boston.com/business/globe/art...  

Answer 4

Most people don't have an open profile on facebook so it's only visible to those who you accept as friends.

Answer 5

Not as far as I know, but I know my old boss used to do it.  However, they can't see your profile page unless you accept them as a friend and I never accept people I don't know or don't want on there.

Answer 6

Of course employers do this.

More fool you if you have your profile so that others can view it.  Note that on Facebook, if you join a network like "London" where anyone can join without having to verify their identity, then your profile will by default be set so that everyone in the network can view it.  You need to make sure you manually change it so that only your friends can view it, and then don't accept any employers or colleagues as a friend.

When you ask "has this happened to you", I would argue that most people wouldn't know whether or not an employer had checked them out.  The vast majority of people probably don't have anything bad on their profiles and therefore it wouldn't affect their applications.  Remember that a few drunken pictures taken on a Saturday night isn't necessarily a bad thing - it wasn't done during work time, on work premises, or whilst representing the company.  If anything, it's a positive thing as it shows that you have a life outside of work and good social skills.

Answer 7

It is best to control your online profile and keep it as private & neutral as possible.

Remember that once you post something on a social networking site, it can be instantly distributed around the world.

If in doubt about whether to include something or not, just don't.  People have been dismissed from jobs for some of their activities.

Answer 8

LOL.  No it hasn't happened to me because I don't have such things like that.  But make sure you goggle your name and get rid of anything that looks bad.

Answer 9

Absolutely!  Not only new, but current.  Never post anything you wouldn't want the world to see.  Even though your profile is only open to friends, friends grab photos, whose friends grab photos......and any applications running on top of the database for it has access to everything.  Also, never post your birth year....your birth date is one piece of into needed to steal identities....only need two pieces and everything is open!  (retired IBM exec mgr/psychologist)

Answer 10

holy c**p they better not