Are You Friends With Your Boss on Facebook?

I just presented this information at Scholars Day last week. The topic was very well received. Students and parents had a lot of questions about it. A lot of my paper concerned the information I posted a couple weeks ago about the laws concerning hiring and firing employees. But, I'm adding some other important info so students really know how much employers use Facebook and other social networking sites (SNSs) as tools to learn more about job applicants.

The National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) conducted a study of 257 employers. Over 11% of those 257 confirmed that they use SNSs to investigate job candidates, while over 40% were undecided whether to use them or not. Keep in mind that any survey asking for self-report may be skewed. More employers may be using SNSs as a research tool than they claim. Why would they lie about this? Well, the legalities of researching applicants are very sticky. If an employer sees the applicant's religion on Facebook, does the employer judge the applicant by that even on a subconscious level? We'll never TRULY know, but you can see that it's a possible issue. A lot of employers don't dare tell the world that they use Facebook because they can't risk being sued for prejudice or breaking the law concerning equal opportunity employment.

Similar to NACE's research, CareerBuilder.com surveyed 3,169 employers and 8,785 employees in 2008. Their study showed that 22% of employers use SNSs to check up on job applicants. This survey asked participants what the most inappropriate information is on SNSs. 41% of employers agreed that drug- and alcohol-related comments or photos on Facebook would discourage them from hiring someone. Offensive and improper photos were second on the list. The other seven items labeled inappropriate were related to professionalism, unlawful behavior, and discrepancies on resumes. For instance, the work history I proudly display on my Facebook Info may say that I work at Career Services. However, if I then bash the office or down-play my role, I'd be deemed unprofessional.

You should also know that Facebook photos have caused a lot of negative consequences. A woman named Stacy Snyder attended Millersville University of Pennsylvania. She was working towards her certification in Secondary Education with a focus in English. However, photos of her dressed as a pirate and consuming alcohol emerged on her Facebook profile. The college denied her the certificate, only allowing her a degree in English instead. This is not the only example. Another woman, Tamara Hoover, taught Art in high school. She was fired for behavior unbecoming of a teacher when nude photos of her appeared on her partner's website. Keep in mind, the photos were taken by a professional photographer. However, the material is inappropriate for students to see of their teacher. Obviously pictures aren't the only issue on SNSs, but they do have negative consequences. Please keep this in mind when uploading that picture of you (or your friend) doing a keg stand at last weekend's party. You and your friend will be happy later on if that photo is deleted forever.