“I felt like people could access my Facebook profile that I didn’t want seeing it,” UCF student Shane Bryan said.
Recently, universities and places of business have been using Facebook to find out information about perspective students and employees. Consequently, students have been deleting their accounts in fear of them jeopardizing their chances of getting a job or internship.
“To me, having my Facebook profile sit there as a personal information warehouse for anyone to search easily made me uncomfortable, so I deleted it,” Bryan said.
According to CareerBuilder, 37 percent of businesses use social networks to research potential job candidates. Facebook profiles show photos of the person, their likes, dislikes and what they post on their site, giving employers insight to who the person really is.
“I felt like people could judge my character based on who I’m friends with. Facebook can tarnish people’s reputations when things are taken out of context,” Bryan said.
The survey states that 65 percent of companies use social media to find out if the perspective employee presents himself/ herself professionally. Fifty-one percent of companies use social network to see if the person would be a good fit for the company culture.
UCF student, Jackie Nowak, deleted her Facebook account in order to stay on her boss’ good side.
“I worked at a summer camp for elementary school kids. One of the kids found me on Facebook and showed their parents. My boss asked me to take my profile down because some of my photos showed me at parties. It was a bad influence on the kids,” Nowak said.
According to the CareerBuilder survey, 49 percent of managers who did not hire the person after looking at social media were because of provocative or inappropriate photos on their pages.
“People think that on Facebook they are safe. That they don’t have to worry about unwanted people seeing their page. But you just never know who ends up finding it,” Nowak said.
It is not uncommon for Facebook profiles to have photos, statuses, and things that could shed a negative light on a person. Forty-five percent of managers said they wouldn’t hire if there were evidence of excessive drinking or drug abuse on the page.
UCF student, Joseph Stoddard would delete his Facebook in fear of it hurting his chances of getting a job.
“Technically, it’s the business’s right to check public forums to see what more information they can gather on the person they interviewed. But I don’t think it’s fair to base an entire opinion on what they find on Facebook,” Stoddard said.
Fifty-eight percent of managers reported that viewing social media sites about the person gave them a good feeling about their personalities. If a person keeps their profiles appropriate, the profiles can work to help, not hurt the person.
“Facebook and other sites shouldn’t have a major reflection on your personality because their not entirely all you are,” Stoddard said.
Other social media sites such as LinkedIn help people promote themselves in a positive way. It is geared towards professionalism with places to add a resume, skills, and work experience. It allows people to come into contact with others who are in their industry and search for prospective employees.
UCF student Samantha Acosta knows that a job is more important than Facebook.
“Employers should be able to look people up on Facebook to find out more about them, but I wouldn’t really want them looking at mine. I would delete it,” Acosta said.
Facebook does not offer any capability to find out exactly who has seen a person’s page and what they clicked on within the profile. UCF student Jayme Pichardo doesn’t think employers should be checking people’s Facebook profiles for information.
“I don’t think it’s fair. I don’t think Facebook should affect whether or not someone gets a job. Social life should be kept separate and Facebook is a social network,” Pichardo said. Background checks and recommendation letters are more appropriate to use because work life needs to be separate than personal life Pichardo said. “Employers need to look at the hard facts that are presented to them instead of just what meets the eye on Facebook,” Pichardo said.
CareerBuilder’s survey concluded with whether or not social media hurts or helps a job candidate. The survey states that 34 percent of hiring managers who research candidates via social media said they found information that has caused them not to hire a candidate.
“I deleted my profile simply because I just didn’t like having all my information out there in the open, whether it is good for a job or bad,” Bryan said.
