Hand
MANUAL
PRIVACY MATTERS
How your Facebook profile could hurt your job prospects
// ANDREA OLSEN
It was a smooth interview up until now, but as Suni Haberland was handed a piece of paper, her jaw dropped. Her mock interviewer slid a printout from her Facebook page across the desk with no forewarning. The paper showed a photograph of Haberland and a group of friends enjoying margaritas.
How did the interviewer get this photograph? Haberland, 2009 graduate, knew her profile had the highest level of security, so where did he find it? He explained he found it through a friend's profile, and warned her that companies often look at Facebook during the interview process.
Employers are using social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter more and more in job interviews. A 2009 Career Builder survey showed that 45 percent of employers use these sites to research job candidates, and the number is likely to grow. Chances are these employees won't be impressed about your 20-second keg stand or the 21 shots you took on your birthday.
While the scene summons images of Big Brother, the reality is your online image is public. You are putting yourself out for anyone — friends, family or coworkers — to see. And while your profile might impress one group, it could offend another.
David Gaston, director of the KU Career Center, says many employers look up candidates online. It is slowly becoming part of a routine background check. Some look before you interview while others prefer to look afterwards. Gaston explains that employers are looking at how you represent yourself online. If you represent yourself well, then you will represent the company well.
It's important to be aware of what you are posting online and who has access to that information. Daphne Hiatt, Brookside, Mo., senior, is careful with what she and her friends post on her profile. She also is selective when accepting friend requests. Last spring she declined a request from a professor because she felt he didn't need to see aspects of her private life. She plans to do the same with employers in the future.
"I like to maintain a distanced tie with Facebook," she says. "I don't feel comfortable with certain people seeing everything about my life."
Haberland's experience was in a mock interview with the School of Education before
her graduation this past spring. Aside from the picture, the interviewer said Haberland had the cleanest profile he had seen. His advice was to take off her religious and political views and hide her tagged pictures.
Online image also comes up in mock interviews at the KU Career Center. Often the interviewers look up the students beforehand and tell them about what they find. The center's website offers tips for how to clean up your online image. If you are really concerned, there are online image consultations available. Sara Clayton, a career consultant at the Career Center, performs the consultations, guiding students through the different privacy settings and cleaning things up.
But employers aren't always looking for points against you by looking up your online presence. Creative jobs like seeing examples of designs or stories online. Some employers even make a conscious effort not to look up candidates online because it affects their image of them. And deleting your profile altogether is a little extreme. Employers understand that social-networking sites are a way to meet contacts and stay in touch with friends. The point is negative comments, obscene pictures and illegal activities don't need to be on display for the world to see.
But your online image is only one piece of what you need to be concerned about. Though employers are looking at your online reputation, Gaston of the Career Center says it is still important to be able to communicate why you would be a good fit for the job. Don't rely on your online image to make or break your chances; let your interview do the talking for you.
The issue of online privacy isn't going away; Gaston says he thinks it will become more of the framework of job searches in the future. The process will continue to morph, and he stresses the importance of maintaining a positive image now and continuing for the future. Start monitoring what you post and set higher privacy settings to prevent airing your dirty laundry.
Clayton says it is also important to keep that clean image even after you've been hired. Don't complain about your boss, your job or your coworkers online — there's a possibility you might get fired if someone reads it. And even if there is nothing incriminating on your profile, think about what image you are conveying. You never know who may be looking.
Photo illustration by Jerry Wang
Career killer? Your online presence — the photos, comments and information posted by you on social media sites such as Facebook — can, if not maintained, come up as a negative factor when interviewing for jobs. Career consultants suggest to always keep in mind what the things you — and your friends — post say about you.
Here are some tips from the KU Career Center for grooming your online image:
- Start by Googling yourself. See what comes up. It may surprise you.
- Change your privacy settings on Facebook. You can control who can find your profile in online searches, both on Facebook and in search engines. Do you want your information to be available only to your friends, or your networks, or everyone?
- Your photo album privacy is on an individual basis. You can set certain albums to be visible only to specific friends, or even ban specific people from viewing them. The default setting is very public; so be sure to change it for each album you upload.
- Go through your tagged pictures and untag anything questionable. Underage drinking, nudity and any other obscenities should be kept private.
- Think twice about what you write in your contact info. Does everyone need to know your political views? What do your interests say about you as a person? Do you want your phone number and e-mail to be public?
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