Rejected From College Because Of Your Facebook Profile?
from the your-new-permanent-record dept
We've all seen the stories about potential dates or employers scanning your social network profiles to decide what they think of you, but what about your potential university? Slashdot points us to a study suggesting that 10% of universities now examine social network profiles as part of their efforts to evaluate applicants. And, in some of those cases, the profiles hurt candidates to the point of having admissions directors change their minds. Other universities claim that they don't think it's right to view such "personal" spaces, but you have to wonder if that view will change over time. Personally, I don't see anything wrong with universities doing this. They're used to just seeing a carefully controlled image of the student, and what's on their social networking sites may reveal a lot more useful info. However, it seems like students should at least be aware that this public display of information is being added to their "permanent record" for consideration at universities.
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Filed Under: applications, college, social networks
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If Universities are there to prepare students for work in the real world they should follow the same employment rules as real businesses. For an employer to scrutinise or monitor the private life of an employee is widely deemed inappropriate.
And where does it end?
Will I someday find myself loosing out on a job because some bored HR worker googled my name and found some decade-old blog reply that didn’t fall in line with company values?
Interview and application processes work in a certain manner for a reason. Employers are required to structure these processes in a manner that demonstrates to regulators that selections are made without bias. References are provided to give employers the broader picture. If an employer goes on the net to start digging dirt on a candidate it quite clearly falls outside this regulation, publicly available or not.
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No it's not. It's rather expected in almost all areas of expertise.
If you don't like that, you shouldn't be working at a place where personal performance matters. I myself have been in the position to hire/fire people for potential liabilities, and I have several times chosen to hire a less qualified candidate because (s)he did not brag about drinking problems online. I also had an employee brag about excessive drinking in the workplace. I told him he wasn't allowed to drink on work nights if he couldn't control his drinking. He chose to ignore me. The first time he came in with alcohol on the breath and hungover, he was fired.
Your personal life is a liability to your employer. They have a right to manage their liabilities.
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The employer does have that right. Because you have no right to be hired by him. It's completely his discretion.
If he doesn't want to hire you because he found a picture of you drunk on Facebook, that's completely legal. Heck, he can choose not to hire you for wearing a pink shirt. He can choose not to hire you because you're too smart. He can choose not to hire you because you went to the wrong university.
He can choose not to hire you for any reason other than your race, gender, disability, and religious orientation. (And in Michigan, for your weight.)
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I don't know where you live, but in the US it's only illegal to fire or not hire someone based on historical discrimination such as race, gender, religion, disability, etc. It's perfectly legal to fire someone (other than for union rules, which would not be a civil matter) merely because the boss doesn't like you.
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Actually, if you get fired because the boss tells you that he doesn't like you, that's wrongful termination. If they fire you because of something you did outside of work hours, that's wrongful termination. Employee's have a lot more rights than employers or the government like to let you know.
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Re: Clocksin
Of course rejection for any of these reasons are also eligible for a civil suit, but, the employer can make up many reasons as to why to not choose that person over another. If you make your personal life public, an employer will look at and take it into account, and if they don't like it for any reason, you don't get the job. That's the reality of it.
My company has a no drinking law. Drink and you get fired. If you have a glass of wine at lunch, don't return to the office that day. Can't even buy a bottle of wine and keep it in your briefcase to take home. If at home and on call, no drinking. No exceptions. Want to keep working, don't drink on company duty.
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Re: Re: Clocksin
Anything is eligible for a civil suit. Literally, anything. I can sue you because you smell bad, and that would have almost as much chance of success as the pimp suing an interviewer for not hiring him based on his clothing. Style of dress and hair are not in the protected categories for which discrimination is prohibited.
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notice you didnt fire him until his personal life had a measurable and indisputable impact on his work life, by coming in hangover.
you therefore concede that you can be biased all you want by his private life but that this is not sufficient grounds for action.
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You've confused what I said.
I was trying to draw the line between what happens inside of work and outside of work, you've merged the two.
If something you do outside of work (such as drinking heavily the night before) effects your working performance then obviously, that's an issue. Its quite different from you're boss following you into a bar on the weekend and watching what you do (yeah, that's in a public place too, thus it must be public and not private, right?).
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Booze Cruise?
Rants about Dwight?
Poetry from Pam?
Discussions with Ryan?
All this could be twisted to fit whatever preconceived notion exists.
But what's being missed is your hiring a person and them to accomplish a task and create a work product. You’re NOT hiring a social circle. Some are quick to rush to conclusions based on 3rd party info, and when Colleges make rash decisions without being given a chance to defend themselves, it really doesn't benefit anyone. On the flip side of the coin, companies that continue this practice may very well have a real hard time retaining good employees who maintain a social life outside work. I imagine productivity may suffer because of group-think mentality and everyone hired lacks social or computer skills.
You work to live NOT live to work.
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I don't mean to be a douche, but if your life is on the internet for all to see, it's no longer private. If you truly think that, you're an idiot.
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Indeed, but MySpace and Facebook are not "private life." They are very public. Unfortunately, many of the current generation of teenagers don't realize this. Over time, it will become common understanding that posting something on the internet is as public as publishing a book about it.
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You know, keep your fucking mouth shut about anything you don't want others to know. Who gives a fuck about your stupid escapades except other clueless retards. They definitely would not make very good employees that need any sort of security clearance.
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Re: YES!
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A personal space might be anywhere inside your underwear, your refrigerator, your porn stash underneath your mattress... but your personal space could never be a website fully accessible by the public. And anyone who thinks that a website that is fully accessible to the public is somehow private or personal is an idiot.
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What kind of BS is that? What my performance have to do with personal life? Coming with alcohol breath to the office is not a "personal life", you know.
My personal life called "personal" for a reason. And the reason is that it's none of my employer business.
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If you want your personal life to be private, keep it private. However, once make your personal life public, by placing your life on the internet for the entire planet to see, then you no longer have anything to complain about.
And if you had a choice wherein everything was equal, but one of the candidate might have a drinking problem, who would you hire? It doesn't matter, the employer would hire the guy without the drinking problem.
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Re: "Personal Life" - get real and get a clue....
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Personal
As long as I keep my personal life from overflowing into my work there is NO reason for an employer to stick his nose in it. Old guy, you had NO right to tell that employee they couldn't drink during the week. However, I do feel that you have every right to fire somone for showing up hungover and unable to perform their work adequately. Sounds like you're an uptight dickwad that was looking for an excuse to fire the braggart. I suppose you're happy with yourself now.
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Re: Personal
The employer does have that right. Because you have no right to be hired by him. It's completely his discretion.
If he doesn't want to hire you because he found a picture of you drunk on Facebook, that's completely legal. Heck, he can choose not to hire you for wearing a pink shirt. He can choose not to hire you because you're too smart. He can choose not to hire you because you went to the wrong university.
He can choose not to hire you for any reason other than your race, gender, disability, and religious orientation. (And in Michigan, for your weight.)
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Re: Personal
Just like you, he chose to mis-interpret my statement. When he was fired, he tried to get me fired by reporting me to HR for telling him what he could(n't) do during his personal time.
I said he wasn't allowed to drink if he couldn't control it. Meaning, you better not drink if it means you are going to come to work drunk. Meaning, his personal life DID spill over into his work. And I didn't fire him for drinking during his off time. I fired him for coming to work drunk.
HR backed me 100%.
Yes, I am happy with myself now.
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Re: Personal
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Free Speech
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When you make it public, people are bound to judge you in some way or fashion.
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Doesn't have anything to do with the company?
Uh, yeah. By that logic, there'd never be a government sex scandal, and there'd be no reason to do a background check. Hey, if I steal or murder on my own time, why should the company care? Absolutely brilliant logic.
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I can't believe someone said this...!
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Where have you been???
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Not to mention pre-employment drug screening. Just because someone smokes pot or something doesn't mean that they are gonna be doing at or before work or that they would have to steal to support the habbit. But this is a legal process in America.
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private life
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Your personal life, as others have stated is in fact personal. However, Facebook and Myspace, if you don't make them private...is NOT personal. It is available for public viewing and scrutiny.
If you are a corporation, and you go public, your financial documents are all available for public viewing, which may change the public's view of said company.
You as an individual are no different. If you write stupidly on your blog, take drunken pictures dressed in drag, have a picture of you with a bong/hookah/whatever, and it's all public...don't be shocked if someone finds it and uses it against you.
Furthermore, it may not affect your performance, but it does affect image, and while an employer may not care about your personal image, they do care about their own and that of their company. As insignificant as your boozing might seem (and will continue to be), your employer may not see it that way.
Not to mention that, above all else, most places are "at will" and people forget that. Unless you're with a union or something, you can be fired for any reason that does not descriminate by race, gender, religion, or sexual orientation. You may also quit for any reason. Even that "two weeks notice" that most employers ask of you is only a courtesy, and you'd be hard pressed to find an employer who will give you ANY notice.
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end user license agreement (EULA) for social net pages?
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It's not just you, too
The internet has become a new social medium that will require a new etiquette. It is not just a matter of how you present yourself but also how you present your friends and acquaintances.
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To say a public website is a personal space is absurd. If you want it private, flag it private so they can't view your pictures and personal information.
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it's simple, really
i can tell you that if who i am is a problem for my current or potential employer, then i am not going to be happy there and need to be looking elsewhere.
not every company is run by pointy haired bosses and orwellian hr managers.
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Health Insurance
What do you think is going to happen? The insurance company is going to step up and say "Hey, you need to start paying us more money if you abuse your benefits like this." The company MAY be able to justify a couple dollar increase for the staff, but they sure can't charge the 20% more money for their health benefits without a lawsuit. So suddenly the company is out money, your co-workers are out money, and all because you need to partake in risky activities. Of course companies have a right to take an interest in their employees "personal" life, as wrong as we might find this.
We live in a sad day and age where people think they can do whatever they want without consequence. We need to teach the next generation that their actions DO matter, and if that means being denied from college then so be it.
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Re: Health Insurance
What is really unfortunate is that the US business model and corporate greed has caused this to be a true statement. It says a lot about a country and it's social values when the people of a country are merely treated as disposable items.
The US needs a serious change in the way it does business and takes care of it's own. A major step towards socialized medecine while taxing corporate greed is needed.
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Re: Health Insurance
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He wasn't fired, he just wasn't hired.
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Use to Your Advantage
You could post pictures of yourself purportedly working with the special olympics, write about how you can't go out with your friends because you're helping serve meals at the soup kitchen, etc.
Set this up and then send out your college applications.
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Gotta Be Kidding
Yeah, sure. Nice rhetoric, but nowhere close to reality.
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Re: Gotta Be Kidding
While I can understand the arguments supporting the right of companies/universities to do such things, I can't help feeling disturbed by the implication that companies are effectively buying more than your skills or the work you do for them, they are buying YOU.
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Personal life is employers business
My personal life is very much my employers business for the same reason a bank will run a credit check on prospective employees. If you have bad credit because you don't pay your bills on time (which is personal) it could affect you on the job if you decide to steal money.
I am in a position where poor decisions in my personal life could potentially make me a liability to my employer because someone tries to blackmail me because of what I do off the job.
Depending on what you decide to do your employer may decide crawl up and down your personal life with a microscope and there is nothing you can do about it but go work at McDonald's if you don't like it.
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Yeah right
What if it wasn't blogged? let's say you had sex with the hiring guy's cousin, and then dumped her. You didn't blog about it, but the cousin told him verbally...
Would you get the job?
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Fakes
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No way!
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Hiring Decisions via Social Network? Why yes Of Course!
I've seen a rash of people with my name, putting up social network profiles. It's kinda funny, because whenever I suffer boredom, I google myself, find another me, I send them an email. After all, who wouldn't want to talk to someone with the same name? I have come to learn these guys live across the country. One of these guys, is my same age played football and also ran marathons. "Shit", I thought, "that's cool!" We conversed over email and talked about lots of stuff.
A year later, in passing, a boss at a company said something like "I bet you played football in Highschool"
"What??" I knew exactly what that meant, and I was dumbfounded. I didn't have an answer for them, but after a while, they realized. Probably the bombshell was when I casually mentioned that I didn't have two children. But instead of owning up to it, they were embarrassed and found an excuse to let me go- I finished my work. That's great, huh?
But it's absolutely astounding that these things are used to make any type of rational work related decision. After all, everything on the internet is true.
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Re: Hiring Decisions via Social Network? Why yes Of Course!
Who knows? I am not that person!
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personal info being hacked into by corporate firms or schools
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Naked Photos & Strange Peoples
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Set your profile and albums to private. Use an alternate email address from you regular one and especially the one on your resume. If prospective employers ask you if you have a FB or Myspace profile, guess what you should say?? "NO!"
Also, don't add people who you work with, unless you know they are 100% cool. Last but not least, use discretion when posting ANYTHING online.
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How to view private facebook profiles
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really wierd
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WHAT?
Thankyou.
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How to view private facebook profiles
http://howtoviewprivatefacebookprofiles.net
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Make Your Albums Private
If you want to learn more about your account's privacy,please take a moment to read this article;
http://www.facebookviewer.com/2011/10/how-to-hide-photo-album-of-yours.html
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