Because I personally have all my photo albums locked down to my friends only, as is my profile. Which would mean a potential employer would have to be my friend. Even people in my network who aren't my friend can't see it.
So its not really an issue if you have your privacy settings set to slightly paranoid.
Are drunk Facebook photos killing your job prospects?
Summary
Almost a third of HR and business managers in the UK check out their applicants' social networking pages. Their biggest red flag? Drunken photos and rude comments.
Topics
Who's poking around your Facebook profile? If you're looking for a new job, it could well be the HR boss considering your application.
A survey of HR and business managers in the United Kingdom has revealed almost a third (32 percent) search the Internet and check social networking Web sites to gather background and behavior information on potential recruits and existing employees.
Meanwhile, a quarter (24 percent) said they have been put off a new hire by what they found--with drunken photos and rude comments being the biggest turn-offs.
Use of Facebook et al as an informal resource on job candidates looks set to continue: of the 68 percent of business people who had not searched for data on would-be staff online, almost half (44 percent) said they are likely to do so in future.
The survey, which was commissioned by people search Web site yasni.co.uk, polled more than 950 HR people and business managers.
It's not just Facebook that can land a job-hunter in hot water: a significant proportion of Brits also appear to be willing to stretch the truth in an interview.
Research from jobs Web site Monster.co.uk has found close to a third (28 percent) of people admitted lying in a job interview and a further 14 percent said they have embellished the truth in the hopes of appearing better qualified. However more than half (58 percent) of those polled claimed never to have lied or stretched the truth to get a job.
This story was originally published on silicon.com.
Talkback Most Recent of 38 Talkback(s)
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DevJonny6th Feb 2009 -
T1Oracle6th Feb 2009 -
Not necessarily....
Aren't you possibly in other people or group's photo albums that may contain the incriminating phtoos?
JB King6th Feb 2009 -
Good point, however...
...this would mean that the potential employer would have to look through your friends photos as well. If you are the only one applying for the job, why would they more to the point, how would they know who they are?
I think in this case it would be a case of being cautious of which photos you are "tagged" in, also you can remove a tag from someone else's photos.
I see your point, however I think it is extremely unlikely to be an issue IMO. But its generally all down to how you use Facebook.DevJonny6th Feb 2009 -
I've heard it said that...
You are who you hang out with.
There are a lot of things you can find out about people on myspace and facebook just by looking at their friends sites.
It doesn't take that long.
It's a good way to see someones EQ, how they associate with others and their casual language and life cultures.
HRBeth10th Feb 2009 -
You'd be surprised ...
... how deep someone will dig if they have a good reason -- such as getting background on you for a security clearance. There are many fine jobs that require a security clearance, and adverse publicity from a neighbor or a web page could bar that door for you. It may not be the HR boss doing the digging in person; it could be a paid private investigator or an agent of the U.S. Justice Department or State Department.
Tony R.5th Mar 2009 -
Who needs super user?
If the picture is "compelling" enough, it'll take on a life of its own. Whoever has access to it will copy it and share it with others, and it would likely end up somewhere where there are much more public access rights assigned to it than the original location.
ejhonda6th Feb 2009 -
re: Who needs super user?
That may be true but unless you are being considered for a job where you need secret security clearance there's not much point in the prospective employer trawling the web for photos. Finding a single point of failure probably is as far as they'll go.
It's like my mail server. My emails of course are recorded in ISP email records all over the place because my correspondents use their ISPs servers. However, there's not a single point of failure (my own ISP) where authorites can find a complete history of my emails in the course of a fishing expedition.
(If they were investigating me personally they would come and seize my computers, but I'm not as concerned about that scenario as I am about the fishing expeditions.)
none none6th Feb 2009 -
Job interviews are to find reasons to reject you.
The less of those there are, the better your chances.
Facebook is for people with nothing better to do than talk about themselves.
fr0thy27th Feb 2009 -
Really? You have a limited imagination.
My familiy is spread all across the country and the globe. Facebook provides us a perfect format to communicate with each other and share things we otherwise couldn't. I am glad you don't have control over my career with a narrow minset like that. Apparently everyone has to measure up to your standards or they are lacking. Sad, really.
jhand472015th Mar 2009 -
I Tend to Agree That Facebook is Dangerous . . .
On 30 Rock they called it (or at least a fake site that was identical)
right:
"Horny married chicks with kids who want to exchange pervy emails
with old boyfriends from highschool"
. . . now they're not ALL like that, but frankly, if I want to exchange
email and photos and family info there are easier, more private and
safer ways to do it without exposing myself and my family to all the
"pervs" out there. And as been pointed out, Facebook isn't as
impervious to public distribution as most think.
I distribute photos via email for the most part and using a password-
protected MobileMe gallery for slideshows which I then don't leave up
forever. The web is NOT secure, just in case you weren't following the
Chinese Google hacker debacle. Anything on your Facebook page
could become completely public at any time.
I don't put stickers on my car and I don't post my life on social
networking sites. It just tells too many crazy people too much about
me. But that's just me. There are people who feel like they have to
have it all out there. In the old days it was interminable slideshows of
your vacation to Disneyland. These days it's Facebook . . . .
JoeL
joeldm17th Feb 2010 -
Relevant story
especially to those who aren't paranoid about the internet...
As part of a hazing awareness last year all greek life and sports teams went to hear a lawyer talk about facebook, myspace, etc... And its the same thing. Most of them got caught by putting pictures of incriminating acts on the internet. Regardless of which site, someone finds them.
Some schools' residential life departments will take action when drunken photos arise on facebook if the person is underage.
Even if its not a picture of something illegal, if it can be misinterpreted, it's probably best to have your settings locked down to those who will know what is going on.
Bottom line, if you don't want your grandmother seeing it, don't upload. If you're gunna be dumb, you gotta be tough.
Comnenus6th Feb 2009 -
100% agree
Most employers I know are ok with blogs as long as you don't talk explicitly about work - that is, mention the place where you work,
what you do etc. and that what you say.
Most employers I know are pretty fair about things, heck, my own
employer knows I make liveleak videos and maintain a blog talking
about a variety of issues - none of them concerning him (having
talked to him about whether I should curtail the use/close them down
after gaining employment).
The problem is that there is a fine line between having fun, voicing an
opinion - and basically acting like an idiot. We all get drunk - but I can
tell you that when people do photo's of themselves drunk then upload
it for the rest of the world to see - as an employer it tells me that the
individual finds getting drunk as something to be proud of.
As an employer I would ask myself; could I really trust this person
when I am not supervising him or her? by uploading this photo or
video it is telling me that she has some serious poor judgement issues
and I certainly don't want these sorts of decisions being made which
could ruin my companies reputation.
Again, I'm no prude and I've had my share of debauchery (some which
would make your hair stand on end) - but there is a time and place for
it - and that is to keep it a private matter, shared between friends and
not with the rest of the known universe.
Kaiwai6th Feb 2009 -
Because you know...
...for example a person with a drinking problem who doesn't talk about it and doesn't share it is so much more reliable than your typical college grad who may have had a couple of goofy photos from their younger (and stupider) days.
Form over function. Sigh.
Of course doing a facebook search is so much *easier* than doing a real background check.
And if it's easier it must be better! Right?
Right?
Bleh. PHBs live and breathe. Words to remember. 
wolf_z6th Feb 2009 -
Wedges thick and thin...
This is part of an ongoing annoyance of mine, and one that seems won't go away, and is likely to spread. What I do in my personal life is irrelevant to my ability to do my job. Revolutionary socialist, drunk on Saturday, compulsive geek, mountaineer, porn surfer... as long as I don't break the law, as long as I work hard, am on time, do my job without glitch or prompt - all the rest is irrelevant to the employer. Or should be. Individuals, not machines. My employer does not own my life, he rents me for 8 or 9 hours a day.
obliquewordsmith6th Feb 2009
Talkback - Tell Us What You Think
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