With more than 400 million active visitors, Facebook is arguably the most popular social networking site out there. And while the site is known for the casual social aspect, many users also use it as a professional networking tool. With that kind of reach, Facebook can be a valuable tool for connecting to former and current colleagues, clients and potential employers. In fact, surveys suggest that approximately 30% of employers are using Facebook to screen potential employees — even more than those who check LinkedIn, a strictly professional social networking site. Don't make these Facebook faux-pas — they might cost you a great opportunity....
Scott McMahan wrote: How careful are employers when they try to vet you on the Internet at insuring the information is really about you, when they're looking for reasons to disqualify candidates? What protections do you have?
Protections? None. How careful are they? As careful as they need to be to serve their own interests.
At least there are always other jobs. However, when someone else has got your name onto a No-Fly list and you need to fly somewhere, you're in even worse shape.
What concerns me about this sort of Internet investigation of employees is how many people on these sorts of social networks have the same name. How does anyone know it's you and not someone else? I wonder how many people are simply unlucky enough to have a questionable person share the same name, or close to the same name. I know for a fact a lot of public records aggregation services are wildly inaccurate. They combine information for different, similarly named people into the same composite profile. I have never paid for a background check, but I have also heard those sorts of services are wildly inaccurate as well.
Sure, you can try to keep your own information clean (these tips aren't bad), but how do you protect yourself from someone trying to search for you and turning up information about other people with the same name? How careful are employers when they try to vet you on the Internet at insuring the information is really about you, when they're looking for reasons to disqualify candidates? What protections do you have?
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