Employers Snoop

Reading

“Beware: Potential Employers Are Watching You…” (PDF)

“How Employers Use Social Media To Screen Applicants” (Infographic)

“Will Employers Still Ask for Facebook Passwords in 2014Links to an external site.?”

Assignment

Employers checking the backgrounds of current and potential employers is nothing new, but the internet makes it trivially easy to examine someone’s personal life. Whether you agree with this practice or not, it is extremely common (one of the readings put the number at around 40%, another puts it at 91%), and it is likely you will encounter the practice as a potential hire, or as managers making hiring decisions.

The first article was written in 2012 and deals with specific red flags employers may look for. The next reading is a detailed infographic that tries to visualize the extent of the practice.

The last reading speaks to an odder and more troubling practice than just snooping through a candidate’s online activity. Some employers have been asking candidates for their Facebook or Twitter passwords in order to see what may lie behind their privacy settings. However, this practice seems to be not as common as previously.

To that end, write a short (about 150- to 250-word) response answering the following question: if you worked for a company hiring new employees, and you WERE going to check their Facebook or other online activity, what sorts of things would you look for? What would be a red flag for you? What would be a positive sign? Would decline to hire an otherwise qualified applicant based solely on something in their private online activity? Finally, have you or anyone you know had an experience with an employer examining your online activity? You don’t have to talk about it if it makes you uncomfortable, but if you don’t mind sharing, let us know.

Again, the purpose of this question is not whether you SHOULD snoop on candidates (I’m against it, personally), but if you HAD TO as part of your responsibilities as a manager making hiring decisions.