Thank You Facebook

[MNDude]

I am in the process of hiring some candidates for some job positions. It's incredible what a wonderful resource FaceBook has been in helping me screen candidates and not waste my time interviewing (God forbid hiring) many candidates.

Ms. Smith: a cover letter showing enthusiasm. Resume shows relevant experience. I check out FaceBook. She has neon blue hair and a nose ring. NOPE!

Ms. Dow: A perfectly written cover letter highlighting how she's a fit for the job. The resume reinforces this. A trip to Facebook shows "B****es will F**** your man!" is the first statement she has posted on her page. NOPE! next...

Ms. Jones: Another nice resume. On FaceBook? "There's not enough coffee and middle fingers for this Monday" Lots of "F*** You" pictures posted on her account. Endless drivel and profanity. Lots of selfies of herself wearing very little clothes. NOPE! next...

I'm now at the point that a perfect resume for these guys might be a sign that a career center put their resumes together. No way they could have.

Ms. Anderson: Her cover letter and resume seem decent enough. I've learned that if possible, check out everyone on FaceBook to see who they really are. On FaceBook, I see postings of how she's excited to get a new degree from a community college. No garbage, just a lot of nice family photos.

Ms. Anderson gets the interview.

[dware]

There is a VERY good chance she would have shown up looking normal and I would have hired her, only to discover later on who I had hired and probably suffer the consequences of hiring someone like that.

And there is NO CHANCE she would have showed up with normal colored hair, piercings removed, you hired her and she was a wonderful employee? No chance at all of that happening?

[dware]

An interview and resume are more of the often false advertising “cover” on the book.

As a manager, it's your job to determine this. This determination cannot strictly be made based on facebook. Should facebook be used? Absolutely. Should it be the end all be all in the matter? Absolutely not.

[Mean Daddy]

I have three kids & I tell them, the bigger the gauge, the lower the wage. If you think you have the right to wear a pie plate in your ear gives you the right to work in any job, your sadly mistaken.

[Responsibility2nd]

I'll just sit back and laugh at all the potential talent you are passing up on.

Laugh all you want. You wouldn't get the job anyway as you'd flunk the drug test.

[caww]

I don’t use face book at all....nor any social network apart from FR. I do visit but I never post.

[MeganC]

Just me but I never underestimate the potential stupidity of my fellow human beings.

[Spruce]

I’m a software engineer by trade. I wear a coat and tie every day. And it’s not stuffy at all.
My appearance is part of the total package that I deliver to my clients. They pay a lot of money for my service and they get excellence in every facet.

If they are more casual, I go to the bow tie.

Nope. Not stuffy. I look great and smell good!

[Larry Lucido]

Ms. Anderson gets the interview.

ADA: As you can see my references are impeccable. I think I’d be a real asset here. My only concern is, I do take care of my mother. So will there be any late nights?

GEORGE COSTANZA: I can't imagine!

[dware]

Laugh all you want. You wouldn't get the job anyway as you'd flunk the drug test

Had to take 2 to get my current job. Aced them both, without studying, even.

[dfwgator]

LOL, what kind of questions are their on a drug test?

How many joints are in a lid?

[Svartalfiar]

Now, answer me this: Are you completely, 100% sure this gal would have shown up with blue hair, or is there a chance she may have showed up with normal color hair and piercings removed?

I didn't say she would have, and my post further mentioned she wasn't near as bad as the profanity-laced posters. First impressions matter, and Facebook now takes that opportunity away from your first interview. She may have shown up normal, and been a good asset. But when you are trying to hire 1-2 people, and are going through 100s of applications, why take that chance? What if she did show up with neon blue hair? Starbucks, hire her. Office setting? Pretty much a waste of time for both her and the interviewer. If I can weed the stack down to only a couple people, that makes my job much easier. I don't want to waste time on people who give me reason to pause.

I have a bad habit of cussing like a sailor, but I reserve that for the non-professional environment. The profanity is put on the shelf when I walk in the door to work, and has never been an issue for me in the professional setting.

And do you post all sorts of profanities on publicly available websites? Many pictures and comments that make you sound and look like an ignorant asshole? Would your company appreciate it much if you did? I use plenty of profanity in life and at work, but when it comes to a client or management, I keep it much cleaner. And I almost never post an profanities on Facebook, on the rare times I log in, maybe once every 2-3 months. Facebook is, essentially, your first interview, and the same way you don't want to be cussing in front of the interviewer, you should probably keep your Facebook decently clean too.

As it happens, I also hate Mondays with a passion (that has NOTHING to do with how I feel about my job) and most of my bosses tend to agree.

True, but what would your company do if you started trashing them in a public domain? I don't like my job (management mainly), but I don't throw that out on sites that can get me in trouble with my job, not to mention it's not good advertising for the company. Why would you hire someone who trashes the company they work for? Why would they stop doing it just because you hired them?

You may also be completely wrong, and he could very well be passing up on the best candidate his company has seen in some time.

Yup, but when you're trying to save time, you can't be checking every candidate for the perfect match. You have to weed out the ones that show signs of not being a good fit, and I'm sure some of the better-appearing choices will turn out to be a decent fit.

[discostu]

Contractors are different than employees. You’re not supposed to be part of the team. Also Minnesota isn’t Tucson. Here a suit is stuffy, especially in the software industry. Most folks wear shorts year round, jeans are fairly standard, band or nerd t-shirts. Somebody walking around here in a suit will make everybody assume they decided to bring in a grief counselor for this round of layoffs.

[Spruce]

LOL!

Or the Bobs

[discostu]

I celebrate the whole catalog :)

[dware]

Samir Naga...nagas...not gonna work here anymore anyhow...

[HiTech RedNeck]

Even that varies. Contractors are pulled into “team building” exercises where I am.

[discostu]

Yeah we’re actually pretty nice to our contractors here. But that’s because our contractors are here to cheat the corporate BS. Corporate decided tech writers were unnecessary so they laid all of them off, but documentation is still necessary so we “outsource” it much the way we outsource localization, except their contract is onsite. They’ve been with us for years, and one of these days a new management religion will take over and we’ll hire them.

[HiTech RedNeck]

Contractors make management feel better during a shaky economic season. Because less loyalty is felt to be owed to them, they don’t draw pot shots to a company than direct employment figures. A smart technical guy would be a contractor if that is what makes the most sense. A lot of contract houses support the panoply of “customary employment” benefits today.

[HiTech RedNeck]

as many pot shots as

[CodeJockey]

I have a FB account. It’s non searchable and my privacy settings are so advanced that even I cannot look at my own page.