Your online activity may be costing you a job.

theoretica

At least there seems to be a fight back against interviewers demanding access to private accounts:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/facebook/9162356/Facebook-passwords-fair-game-in-job-interviews.html

J_i_m

Wow..

I have little problem, if an employer wants to view my profile. But to actually ask for the login information? Whilst it may not be against any law per say.. it is a clear violation against my privacy and possibly other person's connected to my profile.

It'd be like pay-roll asking me for my debit card PIN.

No, I think if a employer/interviewer asked me to hand over my login details I would politely and respectfully decline, citing the risk of other people's privacy & dignity being put at risk.

I'd use it as a opportunity to elaborate on my understanding of "confidentiality and data protection".

If they wanted to explore my character further, I would invite them to ask me to verbally elaborate further on any question they feel they might want a more indepth answer to, to follow up my references, and utilise the CRB/DBS checks.

After all, isn't this what these things are for? If an interviewer has to resort to requesting access to someone elses facebook login details.. then perhaps they aren't doing the job of interviewer very well.

DKLS

melysion wrote: »

I wonder if some employers discriminate against candidates that set their profiles to private.

I wouldn't discriminate if they had set to private, in fact I would be more likely to invite them for interview, unlike the lass who sent me a cv recently, first search of goggle showed a picture of her snorting a big line of posh. Now I couldn't care less what she does in her own time, but to allow that image on Facebook is very poor judgement.

CC-Warrior

This 'asking for FB usernames and passwords' in the US was ruled as illegal.

Before Facebook and social media, we had privacy. Why privacy matters.

melysion

mattcanary wrote: »

Clearly, I'm not typical of all Money Saving Expert posters, but:


If I was a recruiter and saw someone had used privacy settings I would definitely wonder if they were trying to hide something.....

OR - they could just be exercising their right to a PRIVATE life! Why do some people always think the worse just because people don't want to share their entire life with complete strangers?

Absolutely ridiculous!

Would you like sometime to stare in at your living room window while you are having some private family time? Of course not! You would be horrified and rightly so.

Its exactly the same with a facebook account set to private. Its not a case of hiding anything. Its just a case of a persons life being of absolutely nobodys business but their own unless they CHOOSE to share it with you.

melysion

theoretica wrote: »

At least there seems to be a fight back against interviewers demanding access to private accounts:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/facebook/9162356/Facebook-passwords-fair-game-in-job-interviews.html

I'd immediately walk out of any interview if asked for my facebook login details.

silentkiller

melysion wrote: »

Indeed. Which is why, disappointingly for the likes of silentkiller, people would gleam virtually nothing from my public facebook profile. I make it a rule never to add current work colleagues too. And I've switched off public searching - my facebook profile wont pop up on a google search.

Its a shame that one has to think like that. But if some think they have the right to poke their nose into other peoples private affairs without permission, you have to protect yourself.

Well hang on a minute, I didn't say that I relied solely on facebook!

For my last ad I received 200 candidates' cvs, do you think I facebooked them all?? No I shortlisted then had a quick look, if I didn't 'gleam' anything so be it, I still allow them to come in, it just sometimes means that if I do see something that I find 'questionable' that I can ask them about it.

You keep throwing the same argument about private affairs, well if people want their lives to be private, make their profile private! If someone's profile is private, I click off, I do not use any hacking, or fake invites or anything.

I also don't see it as a negative thing if they set it to private - I simply choose not to care.

I don't find it disappointing, it's a fact of life and if that's the case so be it.
Please don't assume I'm sat at a computer facebooking my candidates and then getting upset because I can't see them. Sheesh.

Anywho, in the words of Peter Jones, "I'm Out," as I have nothing else to add to this thread

happy arguing

TBagpuss

I agree. Accessing publicly available information about someone is not 'snooping'.

If a potential candidate featured in a local newspaper you would not, presumably, suggest that it was inappropriate to read that and take it into account, and reading what someone has chosen to make publicly available on facebook or other social media sites is no different. in both cases you know (or should know) that the information is going to be seen by other people.

This is why my facebook profile is private (and my profile picture is not a picture of me), I don't use my real name on forums and my twitter account doesn't have my full name. I do not want my colleagues or clients to have access to my personal information.

As an employer, I google candidates when I am shortlisting for interview. If someone has profiles set to private, that's great. it shows me that they have an understanding of sensible boundaries and basic internet security, and it tells me that there are no massive issues which a potential client might come across.

I would never expect an employee to allow me access to their social media sites or to 'friend' me (or our company).