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Students: professionals monitor online profiles |
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Tuesday, 18 September 2007 |
by LINDSAY TIGAR
Lifestyles Editor
A young college graduate dressed in a suit and tie walks into his first job interview.
He has sent in his resume, received a call-back, and prepared intensively for any question that his possible future boss could throw at him - except one.
“If I were to look at your Facebook.com profile, what would I know about you?”
This question is becoming more common for entry-level positions in the workforce today.
Facebook.com, although a social and networking utility, could affect future career opportunities negatively or positively.
“I think that social networking sites in general can be positive or
negative,” said Virginia E. Page, a career counselor in the Career
Development Center. “Facebook can be potentially more damaging because
the tendency of it is not professional in nature.”
According to an article published on CBS News.com, around 20 percent of
companies scan online profiles such as Facebook.com and Myspace.com for
positions they are looking to fill.
Personal information published online makes companies more likely to
educate themselves on parts of student’s lives that shouldn’t be public.
“The internet makes it incredibly easy to forget what we are putting
online,” Page said. “No one would put what they did on Friday night on
a billboard in the student union, but they might on Facebook.”
Students may be under the impression that Facebook is primarily
students when in reality, according to Newsweek, more than half of
Facebook’s 35 million users are off campus.
MySpace has users of all ages as well.
“The candidate’s MySpace page can also give great background
information as to who this person really is and what kind of friends
they have,” Talent Acquisition Specialist for North Star Resource Group
said on CollegeGrad.com. “Because MySpace allows for lots of
customization and personal touches, candidates should realize that
recruiters, clients, businesses associates and colleagues all have
access to the internet.”
Even if an employer chooses not to use research utilities in the hiring
process, currently more and more agree with the reasoning behind it.
Patrick P. Green is the office manager for Allstate Insurance Company in Boone and is often involved in employing new employees.
“We don’t [use Facebook or MySpace] but it’s a good idea,” Green said. “Any information I can get helps me with hiring them.”
Students with the threat of too much information online still may be throwing precaution and personal information to the wind.
According to a CollegeGrad.com poll of nearly 1,600 students, nearly 40
percent said they would not change their pages when they start their
entry-level job searches.
Page encourages students to “clean it up” at least by their senior year.
“Students need to be aware of what they are putting on there,” she
said. “Never put up anything that shows you doing something illegal,
unethical or anything that you wouldn’t want an employer to bring up or
talk about in the workplace.”
However, students can use Facebook to boast their career opportunities by using it as a “glorified resume,” Page said.
“Do put information about clubs, your GPA and leadership positions,” she said.
Online social networking and utilities have both positive and negative
possibilities and while students should be aware of what they are
displaying, enjoying the boom of the internet for their generation is
important, too.
“It’s a double edge sword,” Page said. “Don’t close off social connections online, but be careful.”
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