admin @ Sun, 2006-03-05 09:00
What would you think if the person who will decide if you get your dream job or who determines your annual raise has viewed your online profile? Even if you don't lead them to it, but they could find it on their own.
Employers increasingly are turning to the Web to learn more about job applicants. And if you have a job, you should know that you're not out of danger. Web-savvy bosses know which of their employees have a blog (an online journal) or personal page on the Internet.
Andrea Kay, a career consultant, author and Gannett syndicated newspaper columnist, said the practice is perfectly legal and simply another way for employers to screen employees.
"It's a naive presumption to make no matter which site you use that no one can get to your information," Kay said. "If you put it out there, assume that somebody is going to get to it."
At the very least, some employers are searching applicants' names with search engines such as Google and Yahoo. If you have a common name, the results probably will be too plentiful to sift through.
But if the search does lead to something, there's nothing to stop a possible employer from taking that information into consideration. For the most part, unless a company is practicing discrimination based on race, sex, gender or national origin, a company can fire or not hire anyone for any reason.
"Employers -- the one you have now and the one you may potentially have -- they are looking for this information to verify your resume," Kay said.
"It's not a true reflection of yourself," said Briana Polar, 19. "MySpace and Facebook aren't places where you're trying to be professional. For (employers) to judge me from what I have on there isn't right. It has nothing to do with my work ability."
Polar, a University of West Florida sophomore, said the only thing on her personal Web pages that might raise eyebrows is pictures of her in "club clothes."
But that's child's play compared to what some users post. It's the kind of stuff you wouldn't dream of including in a resumé -- a narrative about getting drunk at a party, pictures of you and your friends rolling someone's front yard with toilet paper or references to illegal drug use.
Nathan Ford, assistant director of career services at the UWF, said the content may seem innocent now, but smart students should treat their online sites as an extension of their resumé.
"I tell students that you always need to be on your guard," he said. "Networking is how people find their jobs. You never know when you're networking."
These days, it's so tempting to share every detail of your life. And with digital cameras and camera phones, it's easy to post an online gallery of your wild adventures. Ford calls them "right of passage" pictures.
"It's just a casual thing. You're not thinking about being professional," said University of West Florida economics major Weston Clarke, 22. "When I'm applying for a job, it's a different me."
A simple MySpace search for members within 50 miles of downtown Pensacola indicates that more than 3,000 people ages 22 to 30 use the site. MySpace members can view any of those profiles at any time.
And while users typically don't put their last name on their page, the search tool allows you to search for someone with their first and last name, making it quick and easy for an employer to find your page.
Even if you write under a pseudonym, you're not in the clear. Make mention of your company or boss's name, and you could get discovered through a Google search if you don't have the right privacy settings.
Charles Bockwith, owner of Express Personnel in Pensacola, said online sleuthing doesn't take the place of a thorough candidate interview and reference checks.
"It's out of the scope of the degree that we would go to find something out about an employee," he said. "People are putting more and more information out on the Web, so I'd be suspect as to how credible that is and who has access to that page."
Of the companies that are using online networking sites, not all are on there just to dig up dirt. Some employers actively recruit through the Internet.
And, according to Patrick Ropella, president and CEO of Ropella and Associates in Milton, those employers aren't looking on MySpace or Facebook.
Ropella, whose firm recruits executives for chemical and allied industries, said he'd be surprised to find job applicants for those jobs on the sites that are purely social.
But there is an alternative, he said. Sites such as Ryze.com, LinkedIn.com, Plaxo.com and ZeroDegrees.com provide Web users with a place to create a page for professional networking.
"I found my whole network of 3-D renderers though the Internet," said Jane Birdwell, owner of BPM Inc., or Birdwell Photography and Media, which is based in Pensacola.
The lesson here: "Make what you do put online work for you, not against you," Kay advises. "Use it to build your reputation in a positive way. "» Most employers' decisions come down to who you are, not just what you can do."
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