Brazen careerist
Where ambitious young professionals connect and grow
Email
Print
Will change personality for work…
During my junior year participating in the National Student Advertising Competition team (NSAC) I became very close with a girl on my creative team, Nicole. Over the summer we both acquired jobs at different advertising agencies in our college town.We liked to joke around about how important we were and would call our lunches together, “Executive lunch dates.” Little did I know how truthful this title was.
Another friend, Yackjaira, had applied to be an intern at the agency where Nicole worked, and they wanted Nicole to research her via Facebook. Nicole and Yackjaira are not Facebook friends, so Nicole requested to use my Facebook to snoop on my friend.
I was presented with a moral dilemma. I am vehemently against the use of Facebook to decide a stranger’s character. On the other hand, I love Nicole, and I didn’t want her to disappoint her boss. How could she actually bring her job to our executive lunch dates!
As an aspiring advertiser I know that companies expect their potential employees to be well versed in all social networks. This expectation has an unwritten disclaimer that all information posted in their social networking sites be G-rated, which to me is the same as lying.
I know the company is attempting to keep its name clean, but by fabricating profiles with generic info they are making their social media employees more like computers or “men in black suits” than real people. Taking away their identity by forcing them to tone themselves down seems like the opposite of progress.
The saddest part is that it happens. All of my friends are beginning to look for jobs and cleaning up their Facebook, Myspace and Twitter accounts to make sure they fit into the cookie cutter mold companies are looking for.
Honestly I am not excluded. It seemed so easy for me to adjust my interests after the parental clean up. I have realized my Facebook is just another place for me to list my accomplishments instead of express myself. Has Facebook become Linkedin? For me it has, and I’ve found myself on it less and less. Just FYI employers, you can no longer trust Facebook to be a fair representation of your potentials; for those who have wised up these are just an extension of their resumes.
Image: Mask
For more timely, relevant, and engaging articles,
subscribe to Brazen Careerist.
- The Anti-Stalker’s Guide for Converting Online Contact into Real World Collaboration
- Continuing Education: Extending Learning Beyond Your Campus Years
- A New Kind of Business Mover and Shaker
- How To Find a Writing Partner Who Can Help You Achieve Your Goals and Make More Money
- Why You Might Be Better Off Without a Job After College
Comments
02.10.10
It would be more appropriate to blame our Facebook friends (or any other social network friends) than calling Facebook names. Like, you see, there are laws in every country, but there are lawbreakers too. Similarly, Facebook provides you options to keep your profile open or secret and whether to accept friendship requests or not. What Facebook can do if your trusted friends become part of some collusion to swoop on you! Isn't it?
02.10.10
When I graduated college, I cleaned up my profile. I pulled my name from photos that should not have been posted to begin with, and I set my privacy settings to friends-only. I do not use facebook for work or networking, I use it to connect with old friends, but I still don't want unflattering photos making the rounds.
I look at it like this: 10 years ago, I would have been horrified if my embarrassing baby photos were posted in my high school newspaper (Oh, God, I was in high school a decade ago?!). Because of facebook, we have a lot more access to these photos--and we post them online ourselves.
I don't think cleaning up profiles means we are shaping ourselves to fit corporate cookie-cutter molds. I still post goofy photos, but I do not post photos of myself in compromising situations. If it wouldn't go in a family photo album, it definitely won't go online.
02.10.10
Is this really a moral dilemma? All Nicole has to do is go back to her boss and say, "Sorry, I don't have a way to do that because we aren't Facebook friends."
02.10.10
I've found myself censoring my Facebook page as well. I have only a few friends on Facebook now, but 4 times more "associates" so for me yes, Facebook is LinkedIn. Yes, there are privacy settings but people have hacked into accounts in the past so I wouldn't dream of posting anything questionable. We all now have to monitor our online reputations and make sure that there's nothing out there that will negatively affect us. Employers as well as nasty co-workers are looking for ammo and all they need is a photo or weird political/religious statement to take a person down professionally. So welcome to social networking where everything is far from friendly!
02.10.10
On the larger issue of what you put on Facebook and how you manage your privacy settings, life is full of change. This is just one example of it.
02.10.10
In terms of the moral question, give Yackjaira a heads up and ask if she would object to you passing along her profile information to Nicole. Respect her decision whatever she chooses.
As for what you should/shouldn't post on Facebook, don't put anything online that you wouldn't want on the front page of the paper. That doesn't mean don't be yourself or homogenize as much as possible. After all, if you blend in with everyone, how could you expect to stand out as a job candidate? Boozing it up is something plenty of us do, but it's not who we are... you can cut the inappropriate stuff without sacrificing everything you do. Of course, if reckless behaviour constitutes the entirety of your social media existence right now, you might want to start trying to do other things with it... there's tons of opportunities there to leverage hobbies and interests and find/develop communities around them.
02.10.10
I wonder.. if you don't censor your Facebook page, and nobody cares, is that good or bad? :)
02.18.10
if you want a corporate monkey job, you've got to be a monkey.
pizza delivery - noone checks your facebook.
corporate monkey jobs where they want you to take orders and be a monkey - they check your facebook.
baller jobs that you really want - noone checks your facebook, they look at your projects you've done, companies you've founded, ideas you've written about. having drunk photos showing your fun, and supporting crazy causes like NORML, actually help you get a job, because it shows you rock, yet can get shit done.
Got Something To Say?
Got Something To Say?
Not a Member? Brazen Careerist is a career management tool for next-generation professionals. Set up a free account today to comment on this post and start sharing your ideas. Learn more.
Login to view your networks!
 |
 |
 |
|
|
