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.

 

[SnTMan]

If you were trying to kill off social media, this would be a good way to start

Regards,

Mike

 

[ports394]

In some ways, I do think drug testing is a good idea. Because drug testing can find alcohol too.

Most of those substances don't wear off right away. Ever wake up still drunk, or super hungover from the night before (because you were out till 3am) and have to go to work at 8am. Depending what your job is, it might be dangerous.

Credit report, I think is unnecessary.

All of this just seems like insurance on the employers part.. to hedge their bets and get a "better" or "more productive" employee. Just like when you sign up for insurance, if you aren't super super healthy, you can spend tons of time doing paperwork and pay higher premiums.

 

[spongebob007]

I do not believe that drug tests can detect alcohol. You would need a breathalyzer or blood test to determine the presence of alcohol. You would also only fail if you are drunk. Alcohol is out of the system within 24 hours. Some drugs can stay in your system for weeks-hence a positive result does not indicate use at work. I have no issues with drug testing for certain professions and for probable cause. But for me personally, I feel that pre-employment testing as well as random testing of employess in most lines of work is invasive of my personal life and being treated as guilty until proven innocent. But if you need the money, you have no choice. I have never held a professional job that didn't require a drug test as a condition of employment. Luckily I live in a state that does not allow random testing except for jobs where random testing is mandated on the federal level (bus driver or truck driver for example).

I do agree that some of these measures are insurance in the mind of HR types, but we as a society are also to blame. Thanks to an overabundance of bottom feeding lawyers and sympathetic juries in the U.S. everyone has to cover their butts. Let's say some guy decides to go into work tomorrow with a gun and shoot a bunch of coworkers. The first thing that will happen is the families of the victims will lawyer up. it will come to light that the shooter had three prior arrests for violent crimes. Next thing that happens is the families of the victims sue the employer for failing to do a criminal background check that could have avoided this situation. So you have employers running scared. America used to be the land of the free and the home of the brave, but with every passing year Americans are willing to give up more and more of their freedoms in exchange for a false sense of security. Soapbox rant over.

 

[ports394]

spongebob, I looked up a drug testing service. because I was pretty sure alcohol did show up in the urine.. that or one of it's broken down products that's correlated back.

http://www.drugtesting.com/urine-alcohol-test.html

Although urine alcohol testing will indicate the presence of alcohol in a person's system, it will not indicate an individual's current condition. Once consumed, alcohol enters the blood through the stomach within about 15 minutes, causing immediate impairment. It is then metabolized by the body and, after 1½ to 2 hours, will begin to show up in the urine. Therefore, urine alcohol does not give a true picture of the person's current condition. The results indicate the person's condition several hours before. Additionally, urine alcohol concentration does not directly correspond to blood alcohol concentration.

 

[IRstuff]

> Where there's smoke, there's often fire, so a positive raises issues about whether you'll be under the influence on the job.

> Assuming only occasional drug use, it should be trivial to simply stop using during your job search, given that you know there will be a drug test.

So, to me, the actual drug use is moot. The fact that you get caught speaks volumes about your self-control, your priorities, and your decision-making (judgement) process. And if the level is pretty high, I have wonder whether you'll ever show up at work drug-effect free.

And, if you test clean, then I know that you either don't do drugs, or you have sufficient judgement to have stopped using prior to the test, which is relevant to your job performance.

So the way I see it, a drug test does potentially reveal something about an applicant's ability to think-ahead, plan, and stick to a plan. That's not even something you can always deduce from an interview.

TTFN
faq731-376

 

[SnTMan]

Ignoring of course false positives / negatives...

 

[KENAT]

It was the poppy seed bagel, honest!

Posting guidelines faq731-376

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

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

 

[IRstuff]

And, if the applicant doesn't know by NOW to not eat poppy seed bagels prior to a drug test; that's yet another problem...

TTFN
faq731-376

 

[KENAT]

As I recall some job offers (maybe not engineering) spring a drug test on you something like you must take it within x hours of being contacted about it - and this on job applications where you hear nothing for weeks then get something out of the blue.

So, I'm hesitant to be too hardline on the Poppy bagel crowd!

Posting guidelines faq731-376

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

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

 

[SnTMan]

Of course a false negative could fail to detect the poppyseed as well.

 

[ports394]

A false positive can be taken care of with a retest, or a different version of the test. Assuming they want you enough that they listen to you.

But if you get caught, and were really using drugs, during the interview process, it does speak volumes about you... none of it good.

 

[Hoaokapohaku]

I wonder to what degree this is being driven by a facebook suggesting this practice to employers? Seems to me the entire economic value of the facebook business (and other cyber-businesses like google) is in what facebook knows about you and me so that information can be used for targeted advertising. Anything facebook can do to make more people have facebook accounts from which they mine information about us increases the value of their company.

 

[ports394]

If they mine our information and give it to employers, or let it be used against us for employment.. even stupid people will start leaving Facebook.... thus causing Facebook to lose ad revenue.

 

[jmw]

If they ask for hair follicle testing then short term abstinence will do no good, so far as I understand.

JMW

http://www.ViscoAnalyser.com

 

[FeX32]

I didn't read every post. But I read this related article today. Some of you may be interested.

http://raganwald.posterous.com/i-hereby-resign

Fe (IronX32)

 

[ports394]

FeX32, that is hilarious.

 

[FeX32]

Haha. Yea, I also enjoyed it . Glad you did too.


Fe (IronX32)

 

[jmw]

And the disclaimer.......

JMW

http://www.ViscoAnalyser.com

 

[FeX32]

FuzzBuzz. Nuff said.


Fe (IronX32)

 

[SNORGY]

jmw:
I have discovered that my opinion of MBAs gets me past HR and into direct conversation with engineers faster. That is what I want anyway...
Had a FaceBook account...deleted it...never looked back.

Regards,

SNORGY.