by Willette Coleman
What does your online life say about your character? That’s what Hiring Managers (HMs) want to
know. Through Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter,
Tinder, tumblr, blogs, Youtube and other social media, even emails and credit
reporting agencies, employers are snooping into your online activities and
getting to know you without your knowledge; blurring the
public/privacy line. More
than half of employers now use social media to screen job candidates, poll
says; even send friend requests a
Cleveland.com/business
headline read. So,
when managers say “We’ll do a background check,” they might not tell you
to what extent.
If HMs see naked
pictures/sexting (women judged more harshly than men?); photos of alcohol/drug
consumption; of you, friends or family members making gang signs, wearing gang
paraphernalia; read profane and/or hateful blame/shame comments; threats/bullying,
being down right rude/crude; criticism of jobs or colleagues; memberships in questionable circles
and organizations; false information, poor communication skills including grammar
that looks like alphabet soup, will it matter?
“What you say online matters...and what your friends say matters too,” Leigh Goessl said in Does
Your Internet Reputation Matter to Employers?
A Career
Builder study found that “provocative photos on the candidate’s social
media profile” was “the biggest factor influencing their decision not to hire
an applicant.” ReputationManagement.com
reported that statistics suggest 56 percent of U.S. employers “are influenced
by ‘inappropriate comments and text’ posted by the applicant; 55 percent are
influenced by ‘unsuitable photos, video and information’ and 43 percent by
‘inappropriate’ postings by friends and relatives.”
Clearly, if there’s any shadow of a doubt, an applicant will be rejected. And, since life is mostly about what and how
people perceive, perception
plays a major role in a HMs assessment of a job applicant’s online
behavior.
HeadsUp ~ A dirty (or perceived dirty) online presence could
also
impact
budding entrepreneurs’ applications for grants or loans.
Is it Legal?
Robert McHale warned
employers that Using
Facebook To Screen Potential Hires Can Get You Sued, regarding ~
·
Discrimination (race, age,
gender, disability, and so on.). Despite
violating the Civil Rights
Act of 1964, implicit
racism moves some HMs to discriminate against people of color. Can Black people or older people be
targeted based on their photo?
·
Invasion
of privacy. Controversy as to whether
the Constitution expressly protects privacy in the Bill of Rights
continues, so you’d need compelling proof.
·
“Of
Duty” laws. In some states, your non-working
hours activities are nobody’s business but your own. New York’s job candidates and employees’ “lawful recreational activities,
including political activities, during nonworking hours” are protected
under Labor Code § 201-d. HeadsUp ~ To check your state’s or territory’s
“Off-duty” laws, type the name of your state/territory and “off-duty laws” in a
search engine.
·
Free
Speech. This could become entangled
in “a dog chasing its tail” dispute, despite the merits based on the Bill of Rights’
First Amendment.
In addition to
being sued, Roni Jacobson cautioned that, Facebook
Snooping on Job Candidates May Backfire for Employers by damaging their
rep.
The Journal of
Business and Psychology found that “when job applicants realize an
organization has viewed their social
media profile, they are less likely to perceive the hiring process as fair,
regardless of whether they were offered the position.” HeadsUp ~ Industrial psychology is
a lucrative career.
Honest, diligent
and a formal process, similar to the guidelines in the Chartered
Institute of Professional Development, could go a long way to circumvent
violating federal and state laws, including Fair Credit Reporting (FCRA),
and maintaining an employers’ integrity.
In the spirit of transparency, HMs could - a) provide a short paragraph
on the application informing applicants up front, b) ask applicants’ permission
to view their social media, c) offer the option to sign a written consent. It would certainly look good to offer an applicant
the opportunity to respond to questionable activity.
DIY Clean Up
Keeping your
online life clean is a career life skill that can go a long way to
achieving success.
1.
“Go
Google yourself/GGY” (No, that’s not an insult.). In today’s “wired” world, “Google-ing”
yourself is self-preservation. Just put
your name in quotes (i.e. “Janice L. Jones,” or “James M. Jones.”) into a couple of search engines, click search and you might be pleasantly
surprised. If unpleasantly surprised,
delete anything that might be considered offensive. If you’re unsure, ask someone. That family
member, friend or acquaintance who seems to be critical about everything (in a
good way) could be helpful. HeadsUp ~ Regrettably, even after deleting
photos, comments, web pages and blogs, they may not be “deleted” in the virtual
world. For example, the FBI
was able to retrieve emails Hillary Clinton deleted a year ago.
Mistaken
identity
is the utmost reason to GGY. One job
applicant, Kevin
G. told Forbes.com/Learnvest
about how his self-search revealed a sex offender with the same name, even
though the sex offender’s middle initial was different. Is there a despicable same-name person who
could be mistaken for you?
Unfortunately, some employers might not invest the time to dig deeper,
especially if under a deadline and have hundreds of applications. Nonetheless, Reputationmanagement.com
cautions employers to be sure they “have
reliable information before immediately disqualifying a candidate.” They also advise employers to hire someone un-involved in the
hiring process to review applicants’ social media. HeadsUp ~ Job seekers should take a look at
this site to get some insight into what employers are advised to prioritize.
2. If DIY is your thing, BrandYourself.com
offers a free clean up tool. If not, “online clean
up” or “cyber-scrubbing” services like Reputation.com's
ReputationDefender
(starting at $250 monthly) promises to “fix negative search results” including
on MySpace. You may no longer use
MySpace, but it might contain some past damaging comments you’ve
forgotten. HeadsUp ~ Check out BrandYourself’s
jobs/careers. If you understand the ins and outs of
behind-the-scenes technology, i.e. coding (Got kids? Check out computer coding or kids)
backlinks, algorithms,
etc., you could earn a living in this profitable industry.
In his post, How
to Clean Up Your Online Reputation, Allan Hoffman suggests you “sign up at Google Alerts….” The service mainly monitors whether your name has been mentioned or “pinned” anywhere on the net. It’s likely that the person mentioning your
name is the one who reviewed your social media and is the individual to contact. As with cleaning up your credit report, you should have non-credible mentions removed.
Linkedin alerts users to the number of people who have reviewed their profile, but you must subscribe to its “Premium” services to see who.
Linkedin alerts users to the number of people who have reviewed their profile, but you must subscribe to its “Premium” services to see who.
Can you lock out snoopers?
Probably not. Hackers will admit that “nothing on the Internet is secure.”
Privacy settings help, but unscrupulous HMs might attempt to bypass your
privacy setting by impersonating as a “friend,”
as Cleveland.com
reported.
Encryption apps,
like Gabriel, by VirnetX, promises users “peace of mind;”
that your data is stored only on your
devices, “be it phone, tablet or computer.” A word of caution: It pays to do some checking on apps’
developers before you download. For
example, VirnetX is a “patent
troll,” according to Wikipedia,
which IT professionals consider “contentious.” Also, with
some apps, you might be giving the developer access to ALL of your email and
other social media content as reported is the price paid by users that download
the Pokemon Go app. Also, according to NakedSecurity,
the game is susceptible to malware.
No Online Presence?
You’re a private person with no online presence? Well…..you could be between a rock and a hard
place. A CareerBuilder’s
Social Media Recruitment Survey found “35
Percent of Employers [are] Less Likely to Interview Applicants They Can’t Find
Online.” And, since hiring managers also recruit candidates via social media (a Jobvite survey found 2/3
of Companies Now Recruit via Facebook, Over Half Use Twitter and Almost All Use
LinkedIn), an online presence
has become a necessary career tool.
As noted, online
caution cannot be underestimated. Many
people still don’t get it, or just WON’T believe it, but the Internet is not, I
repeat NOT, a private place. Hence, the
terms world-wide-web (www) and Inter –“net.”
Nets are designed to gather/trap stuff.
People tend to dismiss the fact that their online entries and photos, no
longer belong to them exclusively; unlike those pasted in
personal photo albums resting in a drawer or on a shelf at home. Even pictures and content on your iphone are
susceptible to Internet trollers get a kick out of hacking into devices.
(See: How
to Protect Your iPhone Data Against Hackers and Malicious Activity.)
Some Internet trollers work
for companies to “lift” photos and paste them in ads to pretend you’ve endorsed
a product, a major complaint
by Dr. OZ. But, you don’t have to be
famous for deceitful people to place your photo on their website praising their
product or service; even photo shopping your image on to a porno site. (See: Stolen Profile Photos, Can You Protect Yours?)
According to abine.com,
an online privacy blog, “Under many websites’ Terms of Use, you lose rights in
whatever you post as soon as you post it. That’s why it’s absolutely key
that you think before you post…”
Remember:
1.
Like
GPS systems, your (and my) digital footprints are tracked…by “cookies.” Our every Internet move, from searching for
jobs, loans, scholarships, and housing to dating sites, is recorded by this
innocent sounding file embedded in computers.
You can learn how to turn off cookies at Onlineonguard.gov.
2.
Most
importantly, YOU put your likeness and personal information in cyberspace or
the “cloud.” Consequently, you’re willingly allowing anyone to peek into
your life, which is why “invasion of privacy” may be difficult to prove.
Finally, I kind
of went off track in some areas in this post, but the point is that, even if
you’re a veteran employee, you’re not exempt from your employer scoping your social
media, which is why, in the final analysis, reputation still matters. INTEGRITY COUNTS! The best practice – which is old-school
- is: “Say it, forget it. Write it, regret it.”
Magic, Miracles & Blessings!
Have employers checked your social media? Share.
