Property manager
I believe its a total invasion of privacy. I think human resources should feel responsible to let a possible new hire know they will be looking at their facebook. Although its public, its entertainment and I find it creepy. Obviously talking to a person that I looked through their facebook and then asking questions, avoiding the topic is awkward. Not to discredit anyone, but if an applicant wants a representative from the company to look at it they should write and give permission to them. If it is not on there then I don't think its any of their business.
I find it funny too. Like if you get hired based on your experience.. Then why are they meddling into "outside" activities? Nope,I have a very strong thought. "If you don't like my posts then you are not in the business if finding help and obviously in the business of finding shame or some form of low life scumny tatics . to find reason to not hire a person. And if that is the case then your in the wrong line if business. That's why slam the juice on it all .. Nothing like going in to work with a huge smile 'knowing" your boss was snooping at 3am on your post! When you decided to post radical nondence propagander that is against their own ethical ..hahaha and moralbeliefs. hahaha..
The way I see it, today there are no secrets! To use social media opens us up to scrutiny and potential employers read about us and make judgments. I have heard of some people being harassed or bullied by certain postings. Also, parents post photos of their children but these postings may be viewed by undesirables or criminals. Postings today may lead to trouble in the future.
Unfortunately face book puts you out in the public eye for everyone to see and it's not always nice, companies I have worked at has warned me not to put anything about the companies on line , good luck .
When one of my daughters would tell me about their new boyfriends I would look for them on Facebook as well as check the unified Judicial System web site to see if they have any serious crimes in their past. I found some disturbing facts about a few of them. One of the boyfriends is now dead from a heroin overdose, another is in rehab now for drug addiction. It turns out that all of his previous arrests, (Mostly for assault and various other crimes of violence and theft), were a result of drug use. It's all public record and I can't fault a potential employer for using those simple, (and free), tools to check out a potential employee. They also have access to real criminal background checks, (for a fee, of course). Is paying for a background check also an invasion of privacy? You have no control over what's public or private on your police and driving records but you do have control of what is public and private on social media, and you have even more control over what you do and don't post. If you want to post stupid or incriminating stuff to social media, take a step to protect yourself from your own stupidity by creating a fake account with a made-up name and only let your closest and most trusted friends know about your fake account, and be selective about who you accept "friend requests" from on any social media accounts you create, genuine or fake.
For the protection of the company, some employers check face book to make sure they are not hiring a Dr. Jeckal/Mr. Hyde kind of person. Although you may feel it unfair, try to see there point of view. If you had a company and wanted to hire the right people with the right skills and attitude for the job, how would you go about doing it. If you have something negative to hide in your facebook that will affect your changes in being hired for a specific company, don't bother applying there. It's a waste of there time and yours.
Don't post anything on Facebook that is personal. People including employers WILL look at the site because it is open for every one to see. Many companies also advertise on Facebook so they will see comments and such pertaining to the company and they will on their own or by accident see comments made by others within the community made about employees. So don't post anything you think is to personal. Many times they will not hire someone depending on what he or she did no matter how long ago it was. Sorry to say.
I don't understand why you would think a public stage would be an invasion of privacy. The same way you will investigate the job, the job will investigate you.
Hide stuff or don't post garbage. As long as social media has been around, this should be standard practice.
Hi Janet, I agree that it is a form of invasion of privacy, but I have witnessed others in bussiness check out a facebook page to use information in forming decisions. This has been happening for years because I have heard of that very thing happening and causing mothers to lose custody of their children. Therefore even a staged picture for fun may be misrepresented to discriminate against anyone. I am sorry you had that experience, and it is be concerning to work for a company with those ethics.
When you tell the truth about shit for management carrying the load for slackers that you should have seniority make better wage than you ,and you sure can't do it at work , that is life at its best
If you are job hunting clean it up or make it Private. Whether it is fair or not it is still something you might be tagged for.
Also, in the same vein, I recommend doing one of the free credit reports to see if there is any bogus stuff on there. Some of these "credit repair agencies" dump things like bankruptcies, late payments, etc, off onto innocent people's reports.
Companies DO run credit checks, more commonly even than Facebook checks. Jobs that require clearances are really big on credit checks. So make sure you don't have anything negative there too.