Workplace of Choice

Everyone probably has an embarrassing picture that they do not want to share with their family, let alone the rest of the world. Why, then, you may ask, did your friend decide to put that up on Facebook? Your privacy settings may help protect you from your mom finding those embarrassing and possibly illegal photos, but they may not protect you from a stealthy recruiter or potential employer.

As we all know, the job market is extremely competitive right now and any misstep could cost you an interview and maybe even a job! It is great to be a social person but being social does not translate into underage drinking and posting pictures of it on Facebook. Yes, employers want intelligent, charismatic and fun-loving employees, but if a potential employer sees that your social life may get in the way of your professional life, there can be serious consequences.

Let’s take, for example, my first day of college. The deans and the IT service center had a meeting with all 400 new freshmen. They presented about how to clean up your online social identity. To prove their point, they did a bit of research to find inappropriate pictures of our classmates doing inappropriate things such as keg stands. That probably isn’t what you want your first impression to be on your new deans of a college or recruiters. A more professional image would likely suit your purposes better.

Now, I am not saying that you should completely change your  life habits, even if it may benefit your health. It is just important to remember that Facebook is open and it may not always be possible to stop recruiters or employers from seeing your deepest, darkest secrets if they are out there on the internet. If this blog has encouraged you to re-examine your online identity, please see below for instructions and suggestions for your Facebook privacy setting.

Bottom line: If you don’t want a recruiter or employer to see a picture on the internet, don’t put it up there in the first place!

Instructions for increasing your privacy settings:

1.       Log into your Facebook account

2.       Click on Account and you will get a drop down menu. Then, click on Privacy Settings. You will see a chart that explains who can see what on your Facebook.

3.       You will see different options on the left-hand sidebar. Choose the “Friends Only” bar and then click on “Apply These Settings” in the bottom blue box.

4.       Now, you have updated your profile so that only your friends can see your information.

Important: Do not forget that every time that you make a photo album on Facebook, you have to choose who can view the album. Choose “Friends Only” next to the “Privacy” option. Otherwise, anyone will be able to see your posted photos.

P.S. A TIME Magazine writer seems to find certain, unnecessary postings on Facebook entertaining.  Click here to read the article.

While we do a good job addressing guidelines for personal blogging and computer usage, what many companies fail to address is how much personal access to social media and personal usage of computers can they tolerate on the job?  I know what you're thinking - "I don't tolerate ANY personal use, let alone access to social media sites, while on the job."  But, is this really the best policy in today's social media climate?  Should employees be limited to NO personal use during the work day?

Many experts believe that in today's technology climate, this is no longer reasonable and that allowing employee's personal technology access can have positive effects on your workforce.  Companies need to be realistic that social media is the way many people communicate.  By limiting such communication you're forcing employees to be "out of touch" completely while at work.  This may make many employees uneasy and resent the organization's stringent rules.  Allowing them access to check Facebook or send personal emails throughout the day allows them to make a quick connection to the outside world.   According to the Harvard Business Review, there can be additional positive results to allowing personal access to social media sites during work.  An organization that is more accepting of social media in the workplace can be viewed by many people, especially those of the younger generations, as a more attractive and as a forward thinking organization.  Often times we believe that if an employee is spending time surfing the net, that's time they're not working and thus, loosing productivity. Research has shown the opposite; allowing employees to take a quick break allows them to return to their work refocused and more productive.  Lastly, employees feel appreciated and more engaged when employers acknowledge their interest to check and use social media.  The employee feels like the organization trusts them to do the right thing and often times, that trust goes a long way.

Facebook, Twitter, blogging and social media sites are here to stay - so embrace this new technology and determine what makes sense for your organization and design employee policies to support it!

Remember the days of rushing to meet print deadlines in order to place an employment ad in the Sunday newspaper?  Then Job Boards took over about a decade ago, but now Social and Business Networking sites are all the buzz. With the advent of new technology there are always pro’s and con’s.  While these sites do have a place in recruitment, it’s up to you and your company to determine how to best utilize them.  Here are some of our thoughts and experiences.

Using LinkedIn is a valuable recruitment tool.  It is easy to navigate and provides the ability to post ads, view member profiles, search by keywords, participate in Q & A’s, and reach out to people that you are interested in pursuing for a position.  LinkedIn is exclusively a business networking site and its reputation has grown as a credible and professional site. When we receive an “inmail” or an invitation to become connected to someone: we know we are not receiving spam.  Although we have not yet filled a position exclusively as a result of LinkedIn,we have certainly developed candidates and gotten the word out about searches we are working on.

We are in experimental mode with Twitter right now.  As retained recruiters, we represent client companies and need to be respectful of their branding and philosophy of how they would like to be portrayed.  One client is currently tweeting twice a week about the job openings we are working on for them.  So far no bites, but what can’t be measured is how many of those folks are re-tweeting the message to followers of theirs.  The potential is very far reaching but is very time consuming.

Facebook is the most controversial social media site when using it for business purposes.  Here you are most likely to be mixing personal with professional.  One credible way to use Facebook as a recruitment tool is to include a link on your business facebook page that brings the viewers (your fans) directly to the career section of your company web site.  Then in one quick click they can view your job openings.  Facebook does provide you with the ability to post jobs at no cost but this is not being utilized by many of the recruiters we know.  Of course the biggest Facebook hazard is learning something about a potential employee or current employee that you are embarrassed to know or worse could jeopardize their standing in the recruiting process or company.

The bottom line for recruiters is that these technological advances make our job easier.  We are able to identify qualified candidates more quickly than ever and weed out those that don’t fill the bill.  But, as with all new tools, we need to rely on our own good judgment in order to represent our employers and clients in the most professional manner.

Please tell us about your recruiting experience using social media networking sites.