Thanks To Social Media, You Are Being Watched By Employers

August 23, 2009 | Sarah Chong http://www.penn-olson.com/2009/08/23/thanks-to-social-media-you-are-being-watched-by-employers/

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If social media can help you get a job, it can also get you into trouble.

Recently, there are two interesting studies circulating around the web that showed the not too good side of social media.

The first study involves the screening of potential employees via social media, and the second touches on how companies are discouraging usage of social networking sites.

Study 1: Using Social Networking Site to Screen Potential Employees

45% of employers are reported to have used social networking sites to screen potential employees, a big jump from 22% last year. On top of that, another 11% have plans to start using these sites for screening. This research is done by Harris Interactive and commissioned by CareerBuilder.com. A total of 2,667 HR professionals were surveyed.

Study 2: Companies Block Social Networking Websites

More and more people are addicted to social media. It doesn’t take a genius to understand why companies are doing this but a 20% increment in social media blockage is huge. This research is based on more than a billion processed web requests that ScanSafe receives every month.

Use Social Media Wisely Outside Work Too

Many employees were fired because they thought Facebook was a safe place to voice their thoughts and do stupid things. Below are some cases, which would either leave you sympathetic or scoffing at their blunders.

1. For no apparent reason, an employee in South Africa decided to install the product image of their competitors company on Facebook. He was fired shortly after.

2. A woman got fired from a Swiss insurance agency after being found using facebook while she reported sick. She claimed that she was so sick that she could not use a computer and had to lie in the dark. However, a fellow employee realized that her Facebook account had been active. She explained that she was Facebooking on her iphone but I guess that didn’t help.

3. Connor Riley, a 22-year-old pursuing her master’s degree sent out a tweet saying:

Cisco just offered me a job! Now I have to weigh the utility of a fatty paycheck against the daily commute to San Jose and hating the work.

Cisco employee, Tim Levad saw it and responded through his own Twitter:

Who is the hiring manager? I’m sure they would love to know that you will hate the work. We here at Cisco are versed in the Web.

4. A nursing home employee was fired for posting an unauthorized photo of herself posing with a clothed resident on her Facebook page. That violated the patient’s privacy rights and to make things worse, MDH found other pictures of her posing in unsafe and unprofessional situations.

5. A man was fired from his job in a garment company after he updated his Facebook status with “My Boss like masturbation”. Don’t think his boss was too happy about that.