Facebook profile request during job interviews 10

[ports394]

So I searched facebook and saw an old 2010 discussion about this. Nothing recently.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/storie...ME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2012-03-20-03-22-06

Does anyone else think this is a bad practice? I keep my facebook locked down for privacy, and the most I say about work is "Had a long day at work today" or "Worked 12 hours today".

I was going over the ASME Ethics for MechE's and they really say nothing about being a decent person, not posting stupid links on FB, etc etc....As long as you put the public good first, as an engineer and promote the profession in a positive way.

 

[drawoh]

jgailla,

There is one other possibility that you have all not considered.

Create an alternate Facebook page to be shown to employers. You need to work as a team on this. Everybody posts stuff that will be perceived by HR as politically correct. HR is impressed by you and your friends.

Your drinking, belly dancing, skiing and dirty jokes go on your personal site.

JHG

 

[SomptingGuy]

Faked FB accounts aren't new.

Imagine giving your login and password details to a potential employer and them discovering that you claim to be a 12 year old girl!

- Steve

 

[ports394]

The business asking about FB or other social network stuff is wrong. As we've pointed out with the questions they aren't allowed to ask.

A few people suggested setting up a fake FB. In my opinion, that's unethical. The intention is to deceive the employer about who you are in your personal life. I'm not ok with that. As a professional, and a good person.

They're doing something unethical by asking, and I won't compromise myself to minimize the effects of their mistake.

 

[casseopeia]

I think I mentioned before that a FB account request for certain jobs in the arts has been fairly common for awhile now. And truthfully, I'd rather use FB instead of an even more annoying site like Model Mayhem. Facebook has started a professional networking group or service, I think it's called 'Stik.' I have not used it or even signed up. I suspect there may be a fee for use, s I've stayed away.

But modeling and acting are not like architecture and engineering. I still don't want any A/E corporation poking around my Facebook page.

"Gorgeous hair is the best revenge." Ivana Trump

 

[drawoh]

Faked FB accounts aren't new.

Imagine giving your login and password details to a potential employer and them discovering that you claim to be a 12 year old girl!

I think that is s problem with chat rooms, not Facebook.

If you friend a twelve year old girl you have never heard of, you deserve to find out she is an FBI agent.

JHG

 

[MacGyverS2000]

The FB TOS clearly states that you will not allow others to use the account, give them your password, etc. This includes family, friends, etc. So a company would be asking you to break the law by requesting the password... not very ethical of them (though legal to ask because they're not the ones breaking the law... until maybe they actually use the password).

Should they make the job offer contingent upon revealing the password and looking through your page, you can sue them for Tortious Interference as they've now made their agreement contingent upon breaking one already in place.

Dan - Owner

http://www.Hi-TecDesigns.com

 

[MintJulep]

Solution seems quite simple.

Do Not use the same email address for soliciting work as you listed on FaceBook.

This diffuses the potential for an "I don't have a FaceBook account" reply to backfire. The easiest and most positive way to find somebody on FB is by searching for a known email address. They check the email address listed on your resume and find no such address on FB. Any name match can be dismissed as "just someone else with the same name as me."

Alternately, create a shill FB account with a throw-away email and just leave it "empty".

 

[KENAT]

The other problem is those of us with uncommon combinations of first and last names who were dumb enough to use our full real name when initially setting up a facebook account to keep in touch with friends across the pond.

Posting guidelines faq731-376

http://eng-tips.com/market.cfm?

(probably not aimed specifically at you)
What is Engineering anyway: faq1088-1484​

 

[patprimmer]

Dan

Asking you to break a law is conspiracy so even at that stage a law is broken, however I am not sure that breaching a contract is a crime as such. At least here there is a great difference between criminal and civil matters here and breach of contract is civil, but fraud is criminal.

Re ethics

How is it unethical to deliberately hide confidential or private information. Heck in some cases it is actually illigal to disclose it. Is it unethical to lock your doors or to not publish all your passwords or to use a deceptive code when you write down bank account access details.

The real point is if you hand over confidential info like your password when pressed, that tells the asker that you cannot be trusted to resist pressure to hand over their confidential information. Just ask Bradley Manning if it is legal to hand over confidential information.

Regards
Pat
See FAQ731-376 for tips on use of eng-tips by professional engineers &

http://eng-tips.com/market.cfm

for site rules

 

[IRstuff]

"FB TOS clearly states that you will not allow others to use the account, give them your password"

This is NOT a law; it's a contractual clause. FB could sue you for breach of contract, but running afoul of some law would require some additional level of nefariousness.

TTFN
faq731-376

 

[ports394]

http://arstechnica.com/business/new...tm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss

Another thing to think about. What about exposing all of my friends to the interviewer? Perhaps one of my friends works for that company already, or a competitor. Does the interviewer check?

 

[Latexman]

Take THAT, HR weinies!

Good luck,
Latexman

 

[casseopeia]

Because of the economy and the hoards of unemployed and underemployed, HR types have taken this as a license to invade. Employers and their minions have become power-hungry, bullying despots who abuse their new-found power over the jobless masses similar to what happened with TSA agents in the immediate aftermath of 9/11. It will continue to happen until enough people fight back AND when there is a high-profile smack-down.

If you recall, most people just put up with TSA agents groping them inappropriately in public until there were some significant lawsuits filed and video posted on line. I think we are right on the tip of the social network invasion by potential employer smack-down.

"Gorgeous hair is the best revenge." Ivana Trump

 

[btrueblood]

Hmm. I see a huge growth market and possible job opportunity for my kid. Being one of those "friendless" persons with no facebook or twitter account, I would probably pay some 20-yr. old a few bucks to create a very plain vanilla account for me, replete with photos of the 1.3 wives, 2.3 kids, dog, cat, family car, and a list of "friends" with a few boring back-and-forth posts/wall quotes/whatever.

I'd find it hard to see that as unethical, as I have no intention of deceiving anybody, and the photos would be real ones. Just that I have zero interest in obtaining/maintaining silly social network accounts and can't see the point of them.

Even if the intent was simply to create a "clean" account that was seperate and distinct from one's "private" account (very deliberately and quite snarky quotes for that latter one), how is that deceitful? People have made a forthright effort to maintain their public image since the dawn of time. Should we all show up to work in our weekend grubby clothes, and discuss our sexual orientation in the corporate lunchroom? Or should our private life be seperate and distinct from our public life, and our public face similarly maintained and prepped? Are women's makeup and various other "enhancements" also unethical, or are they simply their attempt to keep up appearances for their public image? How about deodorant?

 

[ports394]

btrueblood, I think you're going a bit too far with the makeup and other examples.

My point is that the employer asking is unethical, and potentially illegal because of they get access to information they should not. And by creating a fake account, you are misrepresenting yourself, AND enabling their unethical behavior. Misrepresenting yourself doesn't mean fake photos...but the whole process of hiding your social life and creating a few fake comments and status posts that would be seen as "OK".

 

[berkshire]

Which brings up another point.
A lot of job applications have verbage to the effect, that, if the applicant mis represents him/herself in any way they will be subject to instant dismissal.
B.E.

The good engineer does not need to memorize every formula; he just needs to know where he can find them when he needs them. Old professor

 

[btrueblood]

"btrueblood, I think you're going a bit too far with the makeup and other examples."

Please explain how a purposely created "public" Facebook page is any different than wearing your Sunday best and/or makeup and/or deodorant when going out in public?

"And by creating a fake account, you are misrepresenting yourself, "

How am I misrepresenting myself (isn't that a tautologY)? I'm me, it's my page, and who are you to tell me it's wrong to have my son do it for me, or to ask people to post some nice comments to fill out the page and make it look right? Oh, because somebody might read it and get a false impression of who I am?

How is that different than a lady putting on makeup, or wearing a pushup bra, or me hiding my tatoos, or etc. etc. etc. People are two-faced; the little white lie is a social lubricant. Are you overweeningly honest in every aspect of your life? Never driven over the speed limit, or driven home from a bar after downing a pint? Never dropped a gumwrapper, or picked your nose, or farted? Most of us have done those things at one time or another, but would not like to have the fact publicly noted/discussed, at least not with people we are not intimate with. I'd rather not know your foibles either, and so would not ask, and would rather not visit your page, even if I knew you well. But, if I really cared about my public image, and in some professions that image is worth a lot of money, I would not hesitate to "manage" that image. There are people making a lot of money in this world doing exactly that management task for other, famous people, are they doing so "unethically"?

 

[drawoh]

ports394,

I was not serious when I brought up the idea of collaborating on fake accounts.

Having said that, this does not have to be deceptive. If skiing, belly dancing and car racing, activities engaged in by EngTips posters, are indications of the sort of moral turpitude that will impair a new employees engineering skills, then HR has an interest in whether or not we are engaged in them. But, they don't. Nor do jocular discussion about your favourite drink, or pictures of your pets or of your vacation, all things posted on Facebook.

In contrast, discussions about technical stuff and about professionalism probably will be found boring and will get you unfriended on Facebook very quickly.

You should not lie to HR, but you are under no obligation to tell them everything.

JHG

 

[patprimmer]

Good grief, how many extremely boring terabytes would it take to tell them everything.

lets see how that goes:-

March 24 2012 09.34.00 am breathed in
March 24 2012 09.34.20 am breathed out

etc etc

Kinda sounds more like twitter than facebook though or at least that is what I presume from what I have been told.

We still have a right to choose what we disclose and what we keep private within limits and those limits are set by relevance and reasonable need to know and potential for abuse and even by law.

Regards
Pat
See FAQ731-376 for tips on use of eng-tips by professional engineers &

http://eng-tips.com/market.cfm

for site rules

 

[casseopeia]

I heard one report today that some employers out there are defending the practice. I think it's actually worse when they claim it's voluntary. If you are unemployed and need the job, there is nothing voluntary about it. It's passive coercion. Personally I don't give a rat's a$$ if it's legal or not legal. For me it's the audacity of Hiring Managers to believe that they are entitled to the information. I don't see anything wrong with doing a little housekeeping if you are out looking for a job. It's like getting a haircut and pressing your suit before an interview. For anyone who is unable to follow the link, find it at home by looking for, 'How to Clean Up Your Facebook Profile for Potential Employers'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghIUfEgWCqI

"Gorgeous hair is the best revenge." Ivana Trump