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Subscribe to RSSWhen it comes to Facebook and other social media, you’re damned if you do and damned if you don’t. At least that’s some career expects are saying.
Job applicants long have known that what they post on social networks can hurt their chances of getting hired. But a lack of a social media presence also can be an obstacle.
“If you don’t have a social media page, are you now identifying yourself in a way that suggests you’re outside the mainstream?” said John Challenger, chief executive of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, a global outplacement firm.
In today’s world, where many people are permanent job seekers, “social media presence is basically a must in managing one’s career,” he said. “Not doing so will cause many to question why and will raise red flags about your candidacy. What do you not what people to know? What are you hiding?”
“And if you don’t have an online identity, companies can’t find you,” said Challenger.
Dennis J. Garritan, a managing partner of private equity firm Palmer Hill Capital and an adjunct professor at Harvard Business School, didn’t take quite such a hard line. He said his consideration of social media presence when assessing applicants depends in part on their age and the kind of work they do.
“Not all social media are equal,” Garritan said. “LinkedIn is required. If they are not on LinkedIn, I’m wondering why not, because that is the vehicle for professional networking.” Twitter is important, too, he said, for serious job candidates.
“I like to get to see how people think on their feet,” Garritan said. “How they react to situations spontaneously is a highly prized commodity in the workplace.”
So he said age might be a mitigating factor.
For people 50 or older, for example, he said not tweeting is understandable, as they may be unaccustomed to the technology. If a 40-something doesn’t use social media, it would be a little worrisome, but not critical.
“But if a job candidate is a Millennial and doesn’t have Facebook, you’re wondering, is this person with it, or out of it? It’s certainly a question to ask in an interview,” Garritan said. And for people who work in marketing and public relations, “they have to be invested in social media to be state-of-the-art professionals.”
Certainly there are valid reasons for job candidates to avoid social media, said Garritan, who has a Ph.D. in organizational psychology. And, he noted, there other ways to evaluate candidates’ social skills, including old-fashioned resumes.
“Profiling is bad science, especially when done by people from an armchair,” he said.
Surprisingly, an August 2011 survey conducted by the Society for Human Resource Management concluded that “only a small number of organizations are using online search engines and social networking websites to screen job candidates.”
Only 18 percent of organizations indicated using social networking websites. Conversely, 71 percent have never used these websites to screen job candidates or used them in the past but no longer do so.
But Garritan and other human resource professionals were skeptical of those results.
“Every company I know does it,” said Garritan.
Accenture, the management consulting company, aggressively recruits through social networks, said John Campagnino, senior director of global recruitment. But he added that if a serious job candidate has limited or no social media presence, it would in no way hurt his or her chances or being hired.
Ed Hannibal, a partner at Mercer, an international human resources management consulting firm, had a similar take. He said he couldn’t comment on company policy, but he and his immediate staff have used social media tools to recruit and prescreen prospective candidates, though he said that he is not on Facebook himself.
“I’m so connected personally,” through numerous professional groups on LinkedIn and a BlackBerry, “I didn’t feel the need.” He surmised others may feel the same way.
“There are a lot of factors why individuals may not take part in social media,” Hannibal said. In cases where there is no social media presence, he might rely more heavily on references. “It would not necessarily make or break why I interview or recruit someone,” he said.
“I don’t necessarily think this is a red flag,” said Hannibal, referring to candidates who avoid social networking. “You can’t jump to conclusions.”
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Leave a Comment:
How about you just don't want the world to know your business? Not hiding anything duh!
Yes, and maybe you would be a great worker who didn't have to check FB every ten minutes to see if a friend is in the bathroom or on the way to the grocery store.
Geez, if I apply for a job and the employer holds it against me that I don't like FB, then I'm not sure I would want to work there anyway. Now if you were applying for a social media job that would be different, but otherwise who cares? I'd like an employee who was focused in the real world, as in the job I was hiring him/her to do.
"At least that’s some career expects are saying." Who the hell got paid for this crap? It's par for the FB image...
FU FB
It's good the article points out that social media is "mainstream." And, whether you are on it now depends how "mainstream" you want to be. It's not something for just the trendsetters or the "in-crowd" anymore. Not being on FB really does say you're not part of the mainstream. But what? This is a bad thing?! Has anyone seen the mainstream these days?
To Tanya Mohn, Today contributor,
When you can start spelling correctly and check your poorly written article for typos and grammar then you might get someone to listen.
As for "if your not on Facebook your screwed" ??? Maybe you should use more examples of MARKETING AND HUMAN RESOURCES as examples of socially driven hiring practices... screams of nepotism if you ask me. ONLY HIRE THEM IF THERE FRIENDS SAY THEY ARE COOL!
Let me make it clear... if a company thinks because I do not use social networking that I am a poor candidate then that is NO company I will work for.
I also hold two degrees, both in tech related fields, and I am sure they will ignore those and totally base my job candidacy based on my social networking status.
THIS WHOLE ARTICLE. By Tanya Mohn, Today contributor, is very poor writing and total garbage.
Facebook is for fools. THIS IS A FACEBOOK ADVERTISEMENT TELLING YOU TO JOIN OR BE LEFT BEHIND....THAT IS A TOTAL LIE.
Shosyn, if you're going to make a big deal about someone else's spelling, you might want to proof your own work as well. "...screams of nepotism if you ask me. ONLY HIRE THEM IF THERE FRIENDS SAY THEY ARE COOL!"
THERE should be THEIR.
FAIL
Good for you.... in your eyes I FAIL. I am a average Joe not a writer of poorly written advertisements...err infotainment.... err so called news opinion articles.
Make sure you get me on your WALL so everyone can see my EPIC FAIL.
I still say the article is crap.
You should've spelled out "@!$%# You", but otherwise it's the only proper response to them and this employment trend.
I'd rather be held back than one of Zuckerberg's "dumb @!$%#s", or yet another LinkedIn profile that's contributing to the corruption and who-you-know-conomics of corporations and governments everywhere.
Exactly!
Only dead fish go with the flow!
I completely agree with ram-762581 the posing above. I use FB because it's easier to touch base with my sons. As for a potential employer, if they were to ask for my pass codes to check out FB I would decline to do so. That's MY personal business. I'm her to do the job you advertised for. If I like YOU, and you like me, we can get something going. if not, see you later, no harm, no foul. There has to be a line in the sand between need to know things, and just plain snooping.
the plus is that I won't be spending inordinate time on FB when I am supposed to be doing the job you hired me for.
It is absolutely their business because it is their company, their job they are considering having you work in, not yours. Your application and resume will automatically go into the trash. Employers don't want you if you hide things from them. A person only hides things that are negative enough to keep them from getting hired or keeping their job. If it weren't, they wouldn't be hiding it. In my last job, we scoured the internet for background on candidates for positions. People were eliminated for what the social media indicated they did, for what the social media indicated they hid. Persons with no internet presence at all went to the bottom of the heap because they were more difficult to screen. Most of the time, they didn't get considered at all because there were always candidates with transparent internet social media presence that indicated they were good corporate oriented candidates who weren't drunken party animals, didn't spend work time not actually working, weren't too involved in everything else in their life for being work focused, didn't have some reason they would have a very high absentee rate and weren't some other undesireable ilk.
That is what a reference is for. I do not have a strong social media presence and have not missed a day of work in 10 years. I also do not drink or do drugs which both can be tested for, but I would not be considered because I check my facebook page every now and then. Companies like yours will miss out on some good employee's.
Author is an idiot for a bunch of reasons. I believe ultimately it will be found to be illegal for employers to go through someone's social networking logins.
And the super big MSN.com fail comes to you direct in the form of the author saying "What do you not what people to know?". The words want and what do not have the same meaning..... just saying.
Jim,
NO! WRONG! Just because FaceBook was invented does NOT mean companies have a right to discriminate against employees who do not have an account. A few years ago before FaceBook no one thought I had something to hide, they checked my references of former employers. Some of us aren't into posting every idea, or like, to the whole world. We have nothing to hide, we just have better things to do. Also, I have a Secret Security clearance and an impeccable record. I do not put information about myself on the internet to to be mined. I can see why people in some professions would create a special work related site to allow people to see their ideas, etc. But even then, anyone can post something and it may not even be their own work product! Real proof comes from former employers. Any company that would exclude a candidate due to them not having Facebook, or low internet presence would be short-sighted indeed. Another reason why some don't like Monster, Indeed, Career Builder, etc. is because you go through multiple 3rd parties to apply rather than directly to the company itself. The amount of spam you can get after than is ridiculous. Another thing I don't like to open myself up to.
I agree some people put too much of their life on Facebook....
or maybe you think mark zuckerberg is a scumbag for stealing the idea for facebook and don't want to help him get any more money.
OMG, I've never seen an article so fraught with typos, missing words, etc. Don't media professionals even proofread their work before publishing anymore?
No, they don't. This can't be a surprise anymore.
They were too busy trying to make it ahead in their workplace by multitasking on Facebook instead of editing.
Proofreading is dead, apparently...
"“If you don’t have a social media page, are you now identifying yourself in a way that suggests you’re outside the mainstream?” said John Challenger, chief executive of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, a global outplacement firm."
Sorry Mr. Challenger but I'm not going to get involved with social media just to make your jobs easier. Furthermore any company that insists on sticking their nose into my personal business can take a flying (&*&%) at a rolling doughnut, I wouldn't want to work at a place like that. If that puts me outside the mainstream then all the better because from what I've seen and experienced the mainstream is where crap congregates.
So now I'm a weirdo and a poor job candidate just because I want to keep some of my damn privacy?
Well excuse me for not wanting to make every aspect of my life open to the public.
However, I can understand LinkedIn though. It is very useful for it's purpose.
I personally have no time for Facebook or Twitter. The company I work for blocks both sites as they do not want their employees on these sites and I have far more important things to do when I get home since I have 2 little guy's running around. I have to laugh when people I know comment about how many friends they have on Facebook like it is a statis symbol. Funny, they friend people on Facebook but you can't get them out of the house to hike, golf, bike ride or anything.
I've been asked by potential employers if I have Facebook, LinkedIn, or other social media membership - my reply is always the same:
"No, Facebook is for teenage girls to rant about their broken hearts, and I simply don't have time for that."
or
"LinkedIn is still in business? I thought that site died years ago."
Bad idea - the interviewer probably uses FB or Twitter and you just told him he's an idiot.
That having been said, if an employer is so inane they think being or not being on these sites "says something" about you, you don't need to work for them anyway.
The management at my place has made it quite clear that if you have a profile on LinkedIn; they consider you to be in an active job search and therefore prone to be let go.
As for Facebook and Twitter, I couldn't care less. I'm too busy living my life, I don't have time or interest in posting about it.
Uh, let me see so actually getting out there and exploring the world with friends is suspicious because I'm not posting my every breath on social media? In a sense then, business are no longer EOE because they are already applying discrimination by overlooking a candidate for not being actively engaged in social media.
I work 40 hours a week...when I get home I exercise with my workout partner for 1 1/2 hours...I go to the store and pick up dinner...I cook dinner...I eat dinner...I clean up after dinner...I play with my cat...a bunch of us meet and watch a TV show/movie...then I go to bed. That is my M-F.
Sat is breakfast...shopping...dinner with friends...movie or other event with friends. Sun is house cleaning...working in the garden/outdoor activity...and driving to have family dinner... there you have it. Let me create a Facebook page so I can keep everyone posted when I eat, when I play, and when I crap.
When I'm having a good time with my friends, what am I supposed to do, say oh hey wait, let me post this moment on Facebook. Oh look, I have a hole in my sock... should I let Facebookers know? I spilled milk on the floor this morning...should I update that as well? I burned my eggs...I drank water...I ate broccoli...I broke my toe...I ran out of gas. Give me a break. Some people are actually living and not handcuffed to a website.
I would much rather go hiking with a group of friends than update my status, upload pictures, and talk to my "Facebook" friends. I'm very aware of social media and I also know that when everyone says I should do it, that is more reason not to... it is called peer pressure and I refuse to cave. If an employer doesn't want to hire me for what I can bring to the company because I lack social media accounts, maybe they should view that as, hey this person is active in life, continues to learn about their craft, and is not self-absorbed. Instead, there is something wrong with me and I'm perceived as having something to hide when in reality, I'm too busy living and filling every second of my life with memorable moments.
Maybe if you posted on Facebook once and a while you wouldn't feel the need to tell your lifestory right here...
While I agree 100% with Sydney, CJ's comment made me laugh.
It is critical to know what someone who you went to kindergarten with is having for dinner, or who watched "Glee" this week, in order to get hired.
That was funny.
what a croc. I dont need Facebook and will never get on it.. just like I never got on MySpace when it was the current fad...
LinkedIn is for professionals, Facebook is not. Facebook cost my wife her full time position. My company is planning to move us within a year, we announced this to the family to let everyone know. Before everyone left that Sunday afternoon, a nephew posted a goodbye and you will be missed message on my wife's wall and Monday morning, her manager asked her about it. Within 3 months, she was part time = half pay and no benefits. Thanks Facebook!! I will never have a Facebook invasion of privacy account!
If it is a requirement of the position I am applying for to be on Facebook or Twitter then perhaps the potential employer could provide some explicit reasoning as to what this would have to do with the job itself.
Otherwise, if I am being judged by my presence or absence on a social medium then they are discriminating against me and aren't worth working for. Instead of using these mediums to spy on people they should keep their noses to the grindstone and judge by your actual performance on the job. What happens outside of work, depending on the social implications of my work, is otherwise my business unless they are paying me for that time.
"Twitter is important, too, he said, for serious job candidates."
What the hell does Twitter have to do with being a serious job candidates for most jobs????
These outplacement firms and job brokers are so full of stupid advice for job seekers that it amazes me that they have jobs themselves. I used to try and follow some advice ie, how to write a resume, how to interview..... on and on and on. Most of the advice is ludicrous and yet there are people writing newspaper articles that continue to vomit out this crap. The one thing I did start to realize is that many HR departments are manned by employees who are so full of themselves that if you aren't exactly like they are you won't be considered for a position. They have to snoop on FB now....... says a lot about them in my opinion. What a bunch of weasels.
How ridiculous. As is Facebook. As others have indicated, people need to go out & live life, not post about it all day on Facebook. Tweet-ing and Facebook-ing and Pinterest-ing - - when's the last time any of those people actually interacted with someone face-to-face? Or do they even remember how......
I wouldn't want to work for a company that still thinks FB is "trendy".
From the article:
Exactly right. Employers seem to want it both ways: a FB account so they can check you out, but they also want vanilla employees.
Some of us don't use "social websites" because we maintain a certain amount of privacy in our lives, because "social" sites often lead to identity theft and stalking and other problems, and because just maybe we have the good sense to know that the entire world isn't really interested in what we do minute to minute.
I stopped at the local coffee shop the other day, once an oasis of great coffee and friendly conversation. Now, just a roomful of people staring down at their smart phones and iPads barely acknowledging the humans around them.
At work, we've had to police employees who spend more time on Twitter and Facebook than they do working.
Healthy, productive lives are all about balance. Rather than call it Social Media, I think we need to call it "Un-Social Media."
This is just the arrogance of the overexposed trying to tell themselves all the pointless socializing they do has some important meaning. I have news for the little twit that wrote it. Like many in their fifties, I have been online since DOS , I just don't need to be tethered to a cloud of nitwits every second of my life.
Like MYSpace.. Fcebook is already dying out. When people first log on they go full bore but after awhile you just get tired of the same stuff everyday.
Isn't ironic that we are friends on Facebook but in real life I don't even like talking to you?
I'm totally fine with Linked In. Never had a bad experience and have made some great networking contacts, read some fabulous articles and have joined a couple of groups that I respect. But try finding me on Facebook and you won't find a thing. No need for it, no desire for it, and just plain don't want it in my life. I'm sure a few select industries out there use both sites to vet their candidates, but I still don't think it's the majority or the norm yet. It may be used to NOT invite a candidate in for an interview if their profile on Facebook displays really poor judgment and immaturity which is fine just in order to save time in the selection process. But I really don't think if you don't have a facebook account it will hold you back. You should definitely have a linked in profile though.
Right. The one "Millennial" I know who doesn't have facebook is the brightest, most driven and compentent person I have ever met. She's simply too busy studying, and now working, to waste time that way.
The others spend way too much time on their social media when they are supposed to be working.
I call b.s. on this article.
I wonder if Tanya Mohn is as good at "cypherin" as she is at "spellin"? Maybe she slept her way to this position.
Oh bull@!$%#!! Facebook is a complete invasion of privacy! PERIOD!! DO NOT USE FACEBOOK OR TWEETER!
I agree and am sorry to nitpick, but it's Twitter (and no, I don't have one. Very few things worth saying can be said in the space Twitter allows.)
Wonder how much Coin Facebook had to pay the "journalist" that wrote this. Did not work for me.
Your right wakani, facebook has become completely intrusive. It bothers me to no end that almost every article you read now has a "like us on facebook" tag, a twitter tag and god only knows what else. They make their unholy profits at the expense of their users information without question. It's not a nice friendly social site anymore and it's only going to get worse. Welcome back to 1984.........