NationStates Jolt Archive

COMMENTARY: Recruiters have always used background checks and all information available about candidates, but now they're Googling names and checking out all the raunchy "MySpace" pages. Moral of this story: clean up your online act before you apply for a decent job!


For Some, Online Persona Undermines a Résumé (http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/11/us/11recruit.html?th&emc=th)


By ALAN FINDER
Published: June 11, 2006
When a small consulting company in Chicago was looking to hire a summer intern this month, the company's president went online to check on a promising candidate who had just graduated from the University of Illinois.

At Facebook, a popular social networking site, the executive found the candidate's Web page with this description of his interests: "smokin' blunts" (cigars hollowed out and stuffed with marijuana), shooting people and obsessive sex, all described in vivid slang.

It did not matter that the student was clearly posturing. He was done.

"A lot of it makes me think, what kind of judgment does this person have?" said the company's president, Brad Karsh. "Why are you allowing this to be viewed publicly, effectively, or semipublicly?"

Many companies that recruit on college campuses have been using search engines like Google and Yahoo to conduct background checks on seniors looking for their first job. But now, college career counselors and other experts say, some recruiters are looking up applicants on social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace, Xanga and Friendster, where college students often post risqué or teasing photographs and provocative comments about drinking, recreational drug use and sexual exploits in what some mistakenly believe is relative privacy.

When viewed by corporate recruiters or admissions officials at graduate and professional schools, such pages can make students look immature and unprofessional, at best.

"It's a growing phenomenon," said Michael Sciola, director of the career resource center at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Conn. "There are lots of employers that Google. Now they've taken the next step."

At New York University, recruiters from about 30 companies told career counselors that they were looking at the sites, said Trudy G. Steinfeld, executive director of the center for career development.

"The term they've used over and over is red flags," Ms. Steinfeld said. "Is there something about their lifestyle that we might find questionable or that we might find goes against the core values of our corporation?"

Facebook and MySpace are only two years old but have attracted millions of avid young participants, who mingle online by sharing biographical and other information, often intended to show how funny, cool or outrageous they are.

On MySpace and similar sites, personal pages are generally available to anyone who registers, with few restrictions on who can register. Facebook, though, has separate requirements for different categories of users; college students must have a college e-mail address to register. Personal pages on Facebook are restricted to friends and others on the user's campus, leading many students to assume that they are relatively private.

But companies can gain access to the information in several ways. Employees who are recent graduates often retain their college e-mail addresses, which enables them to see pages. Sometimes, too, companies ask college students working as interns to perform online background checks, said Patricia Rose, the director of career services at the University of Pennsylvania.

Concerns have already been raised about these and other Internet sites, including their potential misuse by stalkers and students exposing their own misbehavior, for example by posting photographs of hazing by college sports teams. Add to the list of unintended consequences the new hurdles for the job search.

Ana Homayoun runs Green Ivy Educational Consulting, a small firm that tutors and teaches organizational skills to high school students in the San Francisco area. Ms. Homayoun visited Duke University this spring for an alumni weekend and while there planned to interview a promising job applicant.

Curious about the candidate, Ms. Homayoun went to her page on Facebook. She found explicit photographs and commentary about the student's sexual escapades, drinking and pot smoking, including testimonials from friends. Among the pictures were shots of the young woman passed out after drinking.

"I was just shocked by the amount of stuff that she was willing to publicly display," Ms. Homayoun said. "When I saw that, I thought, 'O.K., so much for that.' "

Ms. Rose said a recruiter had told her he rejected an applicant after searching the name of the student, a chemical engineering major, on Google. Among the things the recruiter found, she said, was this remark: "I like to blow things up."

Occasionally students find evidence online that may explain why a job search is foundering. Tien Nguyen, a senior at the University of California, Los Angeles, signed up for interviews on campus with corporate recruiters, beginning last fall, but he was seldom invited.

A friend suggested in February that Mr. Nguyen research himself on Google. He found a link to a satirical essay, titled "Lying Your Way to the Top," that he had published last summer on a Web site for college students. He asked that the essay be removed. Soon, he began to be invited to job interviews, and he has now received several offers.

"I never really considered that employers would do something like that," he said. "I thought they would just look at your résumé and grades."

[ Read this entire two page article (http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/11/us/11recruit.html?pagewanted=2&th&emc=th). ]

Hmm... as an applicant, I was always concerned about what would happen if a prospective employer Googled me or looked up my information somewhere. As an employer now, I will be using that as a tool. And if I find something incriminating on a potentially promising candidate, you can expect me to ask about it during the interview.

Suprized this is "recent" news ... this has been comonplace in the tech industry for years ... your published websites, personal websites, and any other public broadcast of your being online is concidered public place

They have every right to use whatever information you put out there ...

I think sometimes they may be making the wrong decisions using this (the art on how to interpret some of this stuff is still being settled) some hiring people do not take this new wealth of information with a grain of salt

Hmm... as an applicant, I was always concerned about what would happen if a prospective employer Googled me or looked up my information somewhere. As an employer now, I will be using that as a tool. And if I find something incriminating on a potentially promising candidate, you can expect me to ask about it during the interview.
I have most deffinatly used this information in the past

If they try to google my real name, they'll prolly just get lots of things about random other people, like a sailor in the US Navy in 1978.:rolleyes: I know. I've tried it.

If they googled my name, they'd get the name of a highly prominant QC in NZ, which is a big bonus I guess.
I've always thought having him as my 'name-brother' has prob helped me get off a few traffic violations. There's been times I was caught bang to rights having done something dumb, car wise, and been let go. I always wondered if they've checked to see who the car's registered to, seen 'his' name come up and decided it wasn't worth getting into an argument with 'him'.

If they try to google my real name, they'll prolly just get lots of things about random other people, like a sailor in the US Navy in 1978.:rolleyes: I know. I've tried it.
Then you are doing something right ... I mean there IS stuff people can find out about you but not legaly or easily which is exactly what you want.
No employer is going to risk jail time just on the chanse of finding something

Then you are doing something right ... I mean there IS stuff people can find out about you but not legaly or easily which is exactly what you want.
No employer is going to risk jail time just on the chanse of finding something
It's more just dumb luck. And that I don't use blog sites....

It's more just dumb luck. And that I don't use blog sites....
Same ... Also never use my real name when making an email account or anything else (game registration or whatever)

If they look up my name they'd have to choose between me, the collegate baseball player, the horseshoe champ, or alien abductee. I think the last three are the same guy. I kind of feel like I'm watching his life through his mentions on the internet.

Oh, and my phone number...now I know I'm not giving you motherfuckers my real name...

Same ... Also never use my real name when making an email account or anything else (game registration or whatever)
I wouldn't with a blog site or any personal email. I would for my "official" email address, though. For most things I don't use my real name either. A silly thing I do is use the name "That Guy" just to see how much spam gets sent to whatever email I gave them from those sites.

If they look up my name they'd have to choose between me, the collegate baseball player, the horseshoe champ, or alien abductee. I think the last three are the same guy. I kind of feel like I'm watching his life through his mentions on the internet.

Oh, and my phone number...now I know I'm not giving you motherfuckers my real name...
So what did you say your name was?:p

Same ... Also never use my real name when making an email account or anything else (game registration or whatever)

Agreed. You just can't trust everyone online- this just proves it. It alarms me that privacy can be invaded this much.

Agreed. You just can't trust everyone online- this just proves it. It alarms me that privacy can be invaded this much.
You kidding ... when I was blackhat there were ways to track down information on about anyone

I try to keep it leagle nowadays

The only time my name is involved is when it's work related, the crappy review list of amazon, or my primate stuff.

Games are by handles and the mail accounts are also by handles.

The only time my name is involved is when it's work related, the crappy review list of amazon, or my primate stuff.

Games are by handles and the mail accounts are also by handles.
Same ... my name is attached to work related items as well as production projects

(I am on the development teams for several *nix projects) that sort of thing

You kidding ... when I was blackhat there were ways to track down information on about anyone

I try to keep it leagle nowadays

I knew there was a reason I liked you. :p

I hung up that aspect when a couple people told me they were trying to track me down. Never did the credit card thing. People were always getting busted.

If they googled my name they would come up with nothing up some info on various Italians that arent me. So try as they might they wont get anything good.

Googling my name pulls up all of the articles I've had published. So if they wanna read about electronics on F-16s and such, they can help themselves. :cool:

Well, I guess I should change that "Communist" on my Myspace to "Patriotic American."

Of course, googling my name will lead to seeing my screenplays. That's about it.

Does anyone realize you can set your profile to private so no one other than your friends can see it?

Problem (mostly) Solved.

Then you are doing something right ... I mean there IS stuff people can find out about you but not legaly or easily which is exactly what you want.
No employer is going to risk jail time just on the chanse of finding something
Don't be too sure about all that. The laws about what an employer can and cannot do in the way of background investigations is very vague.

If they look up my name they'd have to choose between me, the collegate baseball player, the horseshoe champ, or alien abductee. I think the last three are the same guy. I kind of feel like I'm watching his life through his mentions on the internet.

Oh, and my phone number...now I know I'm not giving you motherfuckers my real name...
I'm a "motherfucker?" :eek:

Same ... my name is attached to work related items as well as production projects

(I am on the development teams for several *nix projects) that sort of thing
I use my "real" name for virtually everything online, but then again, I have far less to worry about than most because I'm retired ... and I just don't GIVE a shit! :D

COMMENTARY: Recruiters have always used background checks and all information available about candidates, but now they're Googling names and checking out all the raunchy "MySpace" pages. Moral of this story: clean up your online act before you apply for a decent job!
I'm teaching a course in business writing this summer, and we just finished resumes and job application packets--I have to finish grading them this afternoon, as a matter of fact--and I'm going to give out copies of this article at the beginning of class tonight. It's really a good read.

I'm teaching a course in business writing this summer, and we just finished resumes and job application packets--I have to finish grading them this afternoon, as a matter of fact--and I'm going to give out copies of this article at the beginning of class tonight. It's really a good read.
Kewl! Tell them all I said "hi!" :D

I thought it was well-written as well, but it doesn't go far enough, IMHO. I still keep in touch with some of my former Employee Relations types and most of them view the Internet as a kind of gold mine of information about prospective applicants. You might tell your students that almost all recruiters and screeners are looking for virtually anything they can find to "screen out" applicants since there are so many. Very few actually try to find "the most qualified." It's more a process of elmination with the survivors being hired.

wow online women with my name have multiplied since i last googled myself. and none of them are me.

the LESSON is "never use your real name online". the only privacy you have online is you real identity. dont give it away. its not invasion of privacy for an employer to check out your myspace page any more than it is an invasion of privacy for him to see how well-endowed you are when you walk down the street naked.

wow online women with my name have multiplied since i last googled myself. and none of them are me.

the LESSON is "never use your real name online". the only privacy you have online is you real identity. dont give it away. its not invasion of privacy for an employer to check out your myspace page any more than it is an invasion of privacy for him to see how well-endowed you are when you walk down the street naked.
Sometimes that's not enough. One reason I let my original nation die here was because a guy (now DOS around here) followed me back to my blog and harassed my girlfriend there. A couple of months ago, I discovered that someone--hmm, I wonder who that could have been?--started posting trollish garbage on right-wing websites using my real name. Not my handles--my real name, which I have never used to post on any website or forum. My real name is on the website I use for writing and posting links to my published work, and I keep that world and the political one separate, for obvious reasons--I'm a teacher at a university, but not a tenured one yet, so I have to be careful.

Your larger point is correct, of course--there's no point in bitching about privacy when you've posted stuff about yourself online for all to see. But pseudonymity isn't much of a protection either.

COMMENTARY: Recruiters have always used background checks and all information available about candidates, but now they're Googling names and checking out all the raunchy "MySpace" pages. Moral of this story: clean up your online act before you apply for a decent job!


For Some, Online Persona Undermines a Résumé (http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/11/us/11recruit.html?th&emc=th)





I have always minimized connectability of my RL persona and my online persona.
Whatever you write down is checked.

As always: choose wisely! Your life depends on it!
And there ain't no such things as Freedom of Choice, since others have Freedom of Choice as well. ;)

Don't be too sure about all that. The laws about what an employer can and cannot do in the way of background investigations is very vague.
Apparently so because you can't view a person's Facebook page without being registered to that school using a school email address. They are probably getting site admins to give them accounts without those restrictions.

If they try to google my real name, they'll prolly just get lots of things about random other people, like a sailor in the US Navy in 1978.:rolleyes: I know. I've tried it.
If they google my name they will find nothing but pictures of come black college basketball player..

I do have a myspace account, but I would never put my name on there.. I only use it to lurk, no page designs, no stupid quiz results, no retarded "glitter graphics"..

I do random searches on my school.

So far I have found:

2 pictures of people in only their underwear.

More pictures of 16 year olds with alcohol in their hands than I can count; most of which are on sports teams. I am surprised schools don't search and find these accounts.

Many proud stoners telling everyone else that they love their drugs.

And also, all these people who I thought were smart, I read their posts and what not.. they all talk like valley girls; even the guys.

It makes me feel so smart :D

It makes me feel so smart :D

You are smart. You did create NS General after all. ;)

Works both ways, I wouldn't want to work for a company that wishes to control what I do in my spare time anyway.

Not that there's anything particularly incriminating out there anyway. My NS profile is probably as bad as it gets.

Meh they can search all they want. According to google I don't exist......

Sometimes that's not enough. One reason I let my original nation die here was because a guy (now DOS around here) followed me back to my blog and harassed my girlfriend there. A couple of months ago, I discovered that someone--hmm, I wonder who that could have been?--started posting trollish garbage on right-wing websites using my real name. Not my handles--my real name, which I have never used to post on any website or forum. My real name is on the website I use for writing and posting links to my published work, and I keep that world and the political one separate, for obvious reasons--I'm a teacher at a university, but not a tenured one yet, so I have to be careful.

Your larger point is correct, of course--there's no point in bitching about privacy when you've posted stuff about yourself online for all to see. But pseudonymity isn't much of a protection either.
did he use bits of your biographical info in addition to your name? unless you have a rare name there is no reason for anyone to assume that THAT poster is you.

easy for me to say, the women listed under my name on google are all fine upstanding and fairly accomplished. id have no problem being mistaken for them.

it would be extremely wrong for a recruiter to dismiss "john smith's" application because there are several assholes of that name online none of whom are THIS john smith.

Does anyone realize you can set your profile to private so no one other than your friends can see it?

Problem (mostly) Solved.
Oh yes, but why bother?

Plus, I think you have to be 14 and under.

You are smart. You did create NS General after all. ;)
True dat :cool:

Apparently so because you can't view a person's Facebook page without being registered to that school using a school email address. They are probably getting site admins to give them accounts without those restrictions.
The article notes that many students are keeping their campus emails after graduation, and that they're using those to get into facebook.

did he use bits of your biographical info in addition to your name? unless you have a rare name there is no reason for anyone to assume that THAT poster is you.

easy for me to say, the women listed under my name on google are all fine upstanding and fairly accomplished. id have no problem being mistaken for them.

it would be extremely wrong for a recruiter to dismiss "john smith's" application because there are several assholes of that name online none of whom are THIS john smith.
In this case--and this is the reason I found out about it--he included my email address to my personal site in the post, so it would be easy for someone to make the connection to me if they chose. I don't worry about it because it was just some haloscan posts on some obscure websites, and the trolling was so over the top that I think the site owner eventually banned "me" even though I'd never actually visited or commented. Plus, I also have a fairly common name--there are at least four others with reasonable web presences, though I'm still 1, 2 and 4 on google.

Don't be too sure about all that. The laws about what an employer can and cannot do in the way of background investigations is very vague.
The methods of data acquisition I was hinting at go beyond employer ability :) Its illegal trust me lol

Oh, and my phone number...now I know I'm not giving you motherfuckers my real name...
Hehe, foiled again. *starts dialing* :D

I'm practically nonexistent on Google and am not on myspace et.al., so I don't worry.

The article notes that many students are keeping their campus emails after graduation, and that they're using those to get into facebook.
Bad policy … our accounts become de-activated 10 days after the end of their last registered semester and are deated 1 semester later (meaning no account access but we keep their files around just incase the user finds out he/she NEEDED something after that 10 day grace period)


A lot of schools are not as proactive about security as us though

Kids these days with their big pants and their internets.

Very few actually try to find "the most qualified." It's more a process of elmination with the survivors being hired.
I always thought the first thing recruiters (should) do is randomly thrown half the applications away. That way they get rid of the unlucky ones straight off.

Well, I don't know whether to be happy or depressed.
I just googled my name in speech marks and got 63000 hits, of which all seemed to be either the QC or a Hollywood scriptwriter.
So I narrowed it down by putting in the town I went to school at (and taught there for 3 years) and I got 16 results, of which only 1 was about me. And that was just a list of everyone who graduated.
So any prospective employers are going to be hard pressed to find anything about me.
However this also means I have done nothing worth reporting. Now I'm depressed.

The article notes that many students are keeping their campus emails after graduation, and that they're using those to get into facebook.
Does that explain how the employers are using it?

Does that explain how the employers are using it?
Sure ... many of us grads go on to BE employers

Sure ... many of us grads go on to BE employers
Facebook is really new I mean..

I keep my site clean for the job purpose. Not working so far :mad:

Bad policy … our accounts become de-activated 10 days after the end of their last registered semester and are deated 1 semester later (meaning no account access but we keep their files around just incase the user finds out he/she NEEDED something after that 10 day grace period)


A lot of schools are not as proactive about security as us though
Well, my grad school allowed us to keep our addresses if we paid them a nominal fee, and I'd be surprised if that wasn't the case elsewhere. I've never held onto one, personally.

Facebook is really new I mean..
Well, if the company is big enough, and you've got an alum working for you, you can ask them to do a little search for his or her classmate. I don't think the facebook situation is as prevalent as the myspace one is, but it's still a potential stumbling block for a job search.

Facebook is really new I mean..
Yes but schools have been letting people keep their email accounts for YEARS

Lets say someone that graduated in 99 (WAY before facebook was around) still has their school email address… they could go onto facebook TODAY and still register for an account.

Well, my grad school allowed us to keep our addresses if we paid them a nominal fee, and I'd be surprised if that wasn't the case elsewhere. I've never held onto one, personally.
Some do ... and if it is organized with a contract then yes

The thing I have a problem with is usualy your school username and password is a "portal" into a lot of electronic resourses not just email...

If a post grad account restricts you down to email or provided services good and fine but some schools just leave their grads have full accounts. Which gives them way too much access for their need and is a security risk

Some do ... and if it is organized with a contract then yes

The thing I have a problem with is usualy your school username and password is a "portal" into a lot of electronic resourses not just email...

If a post grad account restricts you down to email or provided services good and fine but some schools just leave their grads have full accounts. Which gives them way too much access for their need and is a security risk
I agree completely. Hell, I'm only an instructor at my university and yet I can access transcripts of students I've never taught--there was a problem with our grad students a couple of years ago accessing each others' grades and getting bitchy with teachers about it, so we had to cut them out of the system. Makes turning in grades a bitch for their instructors of record.

You are smart. You did create NS General after all. ;)
Wait! Il Ruffino is Al Gore??? OMG! :eek:

Wait! El Ruffino is Al Gore??? OMG! :eek:


I thought ruffy was dukakis personally

I always thought the first thing recruiters (should) do is randomly thrown half the applications away. That way they get rid of the unlucky ones straight off.
Heh!

I've seen them throw really well-done resumes in the round file because:

* There was no cover letter.

* There was ONE misspelled word.

* The paper was colored instead of white.

* The layout didn't look "presentable."

* There was a smudge of some sort on the BACK!

* The resume was too long.

* The resume was too short.

* The applicant used "too much" creativity in designing his/her resume.

* The applicant used too many short words.

The list, sadly, goes on.

Well, I don't know whether to be happy or depressed.
I just googled my name in speech marks and got 63000 hits, of which all seemed to be either the QC or a Hollywood scriptwriter.
So I narrowed it down by putting in the town I went to school at (and taught there for 3 years) and I got 16 results, of which only 1 was about me. And that was just a list of everyone who graduated.
So any prospective employers are going to be hard pressed to find anything about me.
However this also means I have done nothing worth reporting. Now I'm depressed.
Go back to being simply "Demented." I liked you better that way. :D

I thought ruffy was dukakis personally
Ewwww! Ruffie is a technocrat! :eek:

I thought ruffy was dukakis personally

Behold! Ruffy!

http://www.happyfunpundit.com/hfp/images/dukakis.gif

Who knew? :p

Behold! Ruffy!

http://www.happyfunpundit.com/hfp/images/dukakis.gif

Who knew? :p
:eek:

.. MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

If they googled my name, they'd get the name of a highly prominant QC in NZ, which is a big bonus I guess.
I've always thought having him as my 'name-brother' has prob helped me get off a few traffic violations. There's been times I was caught bang to rights having done something dumb, car wise, and been let go. I always wondered if they've checked to see who the car's registered to, seen 'his' name come up and decided it wasn't worth getting into an argument with 'him'.


So what is your name...?

Meh they can search all they want. According to google I don't exist......
Lucky bastard.
*shakes fist at academic awards*

I keep my site clean for the job purpose. Not working so far :mad:


Silly, yuo have to apply for the job first!:p

A google search of my name has only 2 refrences to me in the first page, the rest are all someone else, none seem very negative or shady.

Unfortunately, a google search of my nickname and my last name come up with two hits, neither of which I have any association with, but the first is a sexually explicit story. :eek: The other leads to a pic of a snow mobile or something. Sure do hope no employer ever googles possible nicknames for me.

The 3rd and 4th pages of a google search of my name start to show dirty references, too. Also, apparently someone with my name is/was a book editor. Ironic, cuz i once thought that would be a good job for me. Man why do I have to be cursed with a common first name and a last name that is easily made dirty?

Wait! Il Ruffino is Al Gore??? OMG! :eek:
Bob Dole say ha agrees with you. Bob Dole.

Bob Dole say ha agrees with you. Bob Dole.
So...Ruffy is Bob Dole?