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If You Are Goofing on FaceBook, You Might Lose the Job

A lot of people love to goof on FaceBook and the other social networks.   For good or for bad, it allows people to project their inner personalities, act out the different aspects of their personas, even when at times it makes them look simple.  But employers also review the social network postings in order to vet their employment candidates and even their current employers.

According to an article that appeared recently in Xinhuanet, an English speaking Chinese news outlet, at least 22% of 3,169 hiring managers review the social networks to see if job candidates are drinking too much, doing drugs, trashing previous employers, letting out trade secrets, or doing anything else that would deem them unworthy of employment.   Another nine percent of the hiring managers are expected to begin reviewing their prospective employees as well.  This is according to a survey conducted by CareerBuilders.

The article goe on to report that 24% of the hiring managers actually hired someone based on their profile.  Over 33% took a pass and hired someone else.   This means what may be appealing to your friends is not particularly appealing to your future employers.   In tough economic times and with the job market shrinking this might give some of your pause before acting out on MySpace or FaceBook or wherever else you are acting out.

We have been approached from time to time by companies that wish to retain our preemployment screening services to monitor the social networking profiles of future candidates.   We have demurred, believing the criteria is too difficult to establish, it is at least somewhat intrusive and the time consumption is far too great for what we could charge.   But there are background checking companies, I’m sure, that would be mroe than willing to review job candidate profiles on FaceBook.

So if you are looking for work, think twice about what you post in your social networking profile.   You may gain a few laughs, showing what a wild and crazy guy you are, but you may lose out in the job market.   And with no money you can’t go out partying anyway, so if you are looking for work, maybe keep that to yourself.

Check them out before you hire.

By Gordon Basichis

Gordon Basichis is the Co-Founder of Corra Group, specializing in pre-employment background checks and corporate research. He has been a marketing and media executive and has worked in the entertainment industry, the financial, health care and technology sectors. He is the author of the best selling Beautiful Bad Girl, The Vicki Morgan Story, a non-fiction novel that helped define exotic sexuality in the late twentieth century. He is the author of the Constant Travellers and has recently completed a new book, The Guys Who Spied for China, dealing with Chinese Espionage in the United States. He has been a journalist for several newspapers and is a screenwriter and producer.

One reply on “If You Are Goofing on FaceBook, You Might Lose the Job”

Really now, what responsible young adult today doesn’t realize that companies are googling them prior to hire? I even told my teenager to “clean up” his voicemail message before he started looking for a job. No one wants to here T-Pain whatever he was listening to before they leave a message of opportunity.

Hiring managers/Recruiters like you say have totally streamlined their efforts and in some cases like National Recruiting Marketplaces like Dayak have joined forces to share in the wealth.

I think its viral : )

Cindy