5 Reasons You NEED Your Employees Facebook Passwords

[ACU Frank]

I relate this to the claim that lots of employers get sued by ex-employees for responding to reference checks with more than name, position, and date of hire. It ranks somewhere between isolated and urban legend.

[Paul in Cannon Beach]

I think a more interesting issue is how Facebook can work WITH employers who have legitimate concerns about managing their online reputations.

The "employers asking for passwords" fits an unfortunate narrative where employers are creepy and invasive. I think most employers could care less what their employees do online AS LONG as their online activity doesn't have a negative impact on the employer.

Search Youtube for "Dominos pizza youtube scandal" for an example of how one idiot employee can damage your reputation through irresponsbile online activity. (Pro tip: don't watch this before lunch)

[tkessler]

http://cnet.co/HmCLsr

Here is today's latest news article on this subject, from CNET, which raises the (tongue-in-cheek) probing question that I am sure is on the tip of everyone's tongue who has read this thread: Have employers, en masse, suddenly come down with a "case of the stupids"? tk

[NaeNae55]

I saw a newscast the other night where they interviewed a representative of a Police Department (in uniform) of a city in Wisconsin. He claimed it was necessary to look at applicant's FB pages as part of the background check. He said they needed to look at every avenue of information possible to make sure they hired the right people. He also claimed it was the wave of the future and applicants should get used to it.

Snail Frockey.

[ACU Frank]

I ran across a resume the other day, and sent the person an e-mail asking her to complete our online application. Then I looked at her Facebook page.

I'm glad she didn't apply. It would have been awkward, because after seeing the Facebook page there was no way in hell I wanted her working anywhere near me.

What alarmed me wasn't that she engaged in these activities and held these beliefs... it was that she was so proud of them, she paraded them in front of the world on Facebook. I know I have some co-workers with wacky ideas, but for the most part they don't bring them to work. If I need their password to find out that stuff, then it's just not as relevant to me. I'm more concerned with people who wear their hate and bitterness like a badge of honor.

[Sharon McKnight SPHR]

http://www.9news.com/news/local/arti...pposed-to-ask-

Here's a link to an interesting article (along with a short video of a career coach in Denver) explaining how applicants should answer questions employers shouldn't ask. She blames those questions on interviewer ignorance and advises applicants to change topics and, in effect, ignore the questions. It also gives one applicant's take on how to respond when a prospective employer asks for access to an applicant's Facebook account.

Have you ever asked an applicant a perfectly legal question and they avoided answering, perhaps because they thought it wasn't legal to ask? Did you give them the benefit of the doubt or check them off your list?

Is this career coach helping or hurting applicants with her advice?

Sharon

[ACU Frank]

Hurting.

The best advice career coaches can give about interviewing involves how to:
1. Get the interview
2. Prepare for the interview (from grooming to researching the company)
3. Feel relaxed and appear confident
4. Listen
5. Avoid saying something stupid.

The WORST advice career coaches can give involves how to control, manipulate, or otherwise circumvent the interview or interviewer.

If you're asked a question, answer it. Plain and simple. If it feels 'out of bounds', answer it, then ask "Is that a problem?" That simple little follow-up can provide a lot of illumination. Regardless, if you're asked inappropriate questions in the interview, then think about what it's going to be like actually working there and move on.

[Holly Jones]

Just in the event that some of you haven't heard about this one, yet:

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

The (not real, but still going viral around the 'net) "letter of resignation" commentary on requesting access (whether through passwords or "shoulder surfing") to applicants' Facebook accounts during the interview process. The letter is written from a Canadian perspective, but the points about an interviewer actively discovering information that is easily accessible on Facebook, but would otherwise be illegal to ask about in an interview, is still present.

[Paul in Cannon Beach]

What if you suspect an applicant may hold a Canadian perspective, or worse, engage in a Canadian lifestyle?

[ACU Frank]

The last time I crossed over to Windsor the border guard asked me the nature of my visit. I told him I had a craving for Canadian food. He was far less amused than I was.