Should Job Seekers Tell Employers To Quit Snooping? 681
onehitwonder writes in with a CIO opinion piece arguing that potential employees need to stand up to employers who snoop the Web for insights into their after-work activities, often disqualifying them as a result. "Employers are increasingly trolling the web for information about prospective employees that they can use in their hiring decisions. Consequently, career experts advise job seekers to not post any photos, opinions or information on blogs and social networking websites (like Slashdot) that a potential employer might find remotely off-putting. Instead of cautioning job seekers to censor their activity online, we job seekers and defenders of our civil liberties should tell employers to stop snooping and to stop judging our behavior outside of work, writes CIO.com Senior Online Editor Meridith Levinson. By basing professional hiring decisions on candidates' personal lives and beliefs, employers are effectively legislating people's behavior, and they're creating an online environment where people can't express their true beliefs, state their unvarnished opinions, be themselves, and that runs contrary to the free, communal ethos of the Web. Employers that exploit the Web to snoop into and judge people's personal lives infringe on everyone's privacy, and their actions verge on discrimination."
Re:Go look for another job. (Score:3, Informative)
Agreed! Censorship cuts both ways, it's pointless to blame others for you're inability to self-censor.
Re:Well (Score:5, Informative)
Is it good to take a stand? Yes.
Am I going to sacrifice my own career for this cause? No.
If found this comment interesting. While I'm not commenting on you personally, the comment made me think of a Thomas Jefferson quote (of all things) that I think is especially poignant given recent events:
We must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt. We must make our election between economy and liberty or profusion and servitude. If we run into such debt, as that we must be taxed in our meat and in our drink, in our necessaries and our comforts, in our labors and our amusements, for our calling and our creeds...[we will] have no time to think, no means of calling our miss-managers to account but be glad to obtain subsistence by hiring ourselves to rivet their chains on the necks of our fellow-sufferers... And this is the tendency of all human governments. A departure from principle in one instance becomes a precedent for[ another]... till the bulk of society is reduced to be mere automatons of misery... And the fore-horse of this frightful team is public debt. Taxation follows that, and in its train wretchedness and oppression.
When we live on or near the brink of destitution such that we are totally dependent on our jobs (read, debt and utter lack of savings), businesses/employers/government have all the power and the people will lack the courage to stand up for what is right.
I'm not trying to be a doom-sayer here. Just pointing out a trend that I see where people often cite something unethical they see in their company or their industry in general but then never say anything about it because the potential retribution would lead to their economic demise. That, and I think that is one of the best Thomas Jefferson quotes ever.
In case you don't know... (Score:4, Informative)
Re:No, they don't (Score:1, Informative)
And what if it is not a secret, but made up bullshit?
I'm an employer, Hiring is more than buying skills (Score:1, Informative)
There is one really simple reason why I check the on line persona's of all my potential employees. And that is because people ALWAYS bring their personal life to work and who someone is has more impact on me as an employer than what their skills were. So if someone has a dysfunctional "private" life they will bring that to work. That costs me money and negatively affects others in the workplace
Also surprise surprise you are not machines! If you are a moron outside of work you WILL be a moron inside of work. If I could hire you for your skills and you brought NOTHING else to the office there would be absolutely no reason for me to do more research on you. However you don't, you bring attitudes, pre conceptions, baggage from previous employers, dreams, aspirations, wants, desires, etc etc etc. These are 99% of the time MORE IMPORTANT than the skill set you bring!
I need someone with development skills. Easy I can find lots and lots of people with that skill. However that's only a small part of what anyone looks for in an employee.
I need someone with development skills, drive, an ambition to take ownership of a project and deliver it, the ability to work with others and communicate well, someone who wants a long term role, someone who will fit with the office culture, etc etc etc.
When I offer you a job I'm not just paying you to deliver a service. I am inviting you to become part of my family. I am attaching my name and reputation to the work that you do and the interactions you have with others. I am asking you to enter into a serious relationship with me. And I am having to do this based on something that is almost certainly inflated, inaccurate and self-serving (your CV, by its very nature its a sales document!) and a 2 hour meeting. In some cases I might throw in a psychometric or maybe a couple more interviews but that's it!
Can you seriously blame me for wanting to find out as much as I possibly can about you before we walk down the aisle? And because I live in a country where employment law favours the employee so once you are in the family its an awful lot easier for you to leave me then it is for me to leave you. And that doesn't take into consideration the damage you could do to the rest of my family.
Free speech != free of repercussions (Score:3, Informative)
You have the right to say pretty much what you want without the government interfering. But, that doesn't mean there will not be repercussions of said speech.
It is not snooping to see what you have said in public. Yes, the internet is a public place and if you have a tendency to say and do things that would be embarrassing or disconcerting to a prospective employer, don't be surprised when the prospective employer search public information and decides you are not what he wants for an employee.
Stop being a dumb-ass and keep your private life private and quit flaunting your stupidity in public if you don't want it held against you.
Re:Workplaces are juntas? (Score:3, Informative)
Any job with responsibility also requires the exercise of decision-making by the employee - not just blindly obeying your bosses and similarly coercing those under you. You're supposed to all be in it together, because if the company fails, you are out of a job, just like everyone else. A democracy doesn't mean "do your own thing" - it means youhave the freedom of choice to unite with other people to work towards a common goal - sort of like the Declaration of Independence.
Companies like Toyota "get it." ANYONE can stop the line at any time if they think there's a problem. More importantly, the average employee submits 173 suggestions per year - compare that with North American companies that have official suggestion programs - and don't even average half a dozen.