Employers are becoming more and more internet savvy and checking out applicants via their Facebook and MySpace pages. According to an article on SmartMoney.com, it has become a common practice for employers to check out applicants’ pages on these two sites. This practice has sparked a debate – should these sites have some kind of privacy tool integrated to keep the information private? For example, if a college senior wants to put photos of a keg party on her MySpace page, should that affect her chances for employment years down the road, or is this an invasion of her privacy?
According to a 2006 study by Career Builder, 25% of the 1,150 hiring managers surveyed reported using search engines like Google to screen job applicants. 150 of these managers admitted to using social networking sites to check up on applicants. The survey also indicated that 50% of the managers surveyed admitted to not hiring an applicant because of information obtained from online searches.
So, this begs the quesiton – is this process an invasion of privacy? Should applicants be asked for their permission to allow potential employers to poke around on their MySpace and Facebook pages, or are these pages considered public domain? Let’s face it, we all did things as young adults that we regret today. But, is it the employer’s place to use this information as a hiring tool?
Regardless of if it is right or wrong, be careful what you put on your MySpace and Facebook pages. It could come back to haunt you in the future.
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They’re putting it out for the public to see. There are privacy settings on both sites to prevent prying eyes, if they choose not to use these then it’s not an invasion of privacy.
If you leave the doors of your house open and someone happens to see something inside, they’re not invading your privacy, you’re choosing to make it available to the public.
I don’t think it counts as invasion of privacy. If you choose to set your account so that public can see it – you have already given permission. It’s like standing in front of an open window naked and then claiming that your privacy has been invaded when people look. You put it there, you did nothing to stop if from being publically accessible, and then just expect people not to look?
If you really feel the need to post disturbing pictures of yourself that could effect potential employment, then you need to be wise enough to adjust your privacy settings so that those images are not available to the generally setting. If you do not have enough wisdom, fore thought or tact to do that, I wouldn’t want you as an employee either.
I agree with Crystal. If you put it out there for everyone to see, then you should expect that even potential employers might see it. If there’s even one person you don’t want to see it, then you should either not post it or make sure that protections are in place to limit the people who can see it.
Of course, the ethics of using that information when hiring or evaluating employees is a whole other issue. There are so many factors to consider that it’s tough to draw a line about what is acceptable and what isn’t.
Great discussion! I agree that once you post something on the internet, you’ve pretty much waived your right to privacy. I hope the teens and young people of today understand that this will follow them forever.