 Watch your back: Facebook is more than just a way to connect with friends. Students can be hired or fired based on their facebook profile.
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Shirt tucked in? Check. Hair in place? Check. Look at Facebook pictures to make sure they are not too raunchy? Check.
In the past few years, employers have been using search engines to evaluate their candidates, causing students to make sure the information posted in their Facebook profiles will not harm their image in any way.
A recent segment on NBC Nightly News said that about 77 percent of employers use a search engine to review a candidate and about 35 percent of employers have eliminated a candidate based on information they found on these sites.
Mike Esposito, a 2007 Fairfield graduate, said that although he did not delete his Facebook account after graduation, he realizes the importance of not revealing too much personal and potentially incriminating material to a network of people.
"Do not put anything on Facebook that you would not the world to find out. After all, it is the World Wide Web," he said.
"I do not think that I will delete my profile page," said Nicole Farella '09, a student who is currently in the process of sorting out interviews and jobs. "However, I will double check it to make sure it represents the image I want my boss to see," she added.
Brad Karsh, president and founder of JobBound, one of the nation's leading career consulting companies, was featured on an episode of Dr. Phil and said that while he is not telling a student what to do, he is "basically looking at your judgment."
Karsh also noted that if he saw a potential job candidate holding a beer in a Facebook photo, he would not freak out because, after all, it is a student's personal life.
However, if he were to see that a candidate's interests included smoking marijuana five days a week, that might say something about how you will perform for the company, Karsh said.
Director of Career Planning Cathleen Borgman agrees with Karsh. It is important to watch what you post on your page, she said.
"I personally don't think it is bad to have a Facebook as long as you are diligent in checking it and making sure there is nothing on it that could be used against you," Borgman said.
She advises students to make sure that their settings are at the highest security level. "Also, don't have raunchy conversations with friends on your wall. If you need to write them that way, use e-mail," Borgman said.
Bottom line: Check your Facebook regularly because it is not uncommon for an employer to look you up.
As Borgman said, "Remember, that person you are drinking with tonight might be looking you up for an employer tomorrow! Better safe than sorry!"
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Ebony
posted 8/30/08 @ 10:20 AM EST
The employer obviously doesn't know when the line between work and personal life begin. Its none of their business to even begin with to even be looking at your profile. (Continued…)
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