To get a job you now need a social network presence, so remember

[CK_John]

what you put up on these sites.

This is the newest and most effective way to yank your chain. Stay in line or no work.

Enough worse if you don't have a social page your are considered a misfit and who wants to hire a misfit.

The only solution is labor lotteries run by a local labor board modeled after draft boards. Details to be worked out later. We need to get started by separating hiring decision from corporations.

[IDemo]

1. Any evidence for needing a FB or other social presence?

I understand that many employers do ask for that info, but I haven't seen that not having one at all equals a no hire. I think it's more about what you say and who your friends are if you do have an online presence.

[CK_John]

6. Let bing or google be your fiend. Do a little research and report back. nt

[FSogol]

7. You made the ridiculous claim. Why don't you do the research? n/t

[CK_John]

9. "social network job" will give you a page full of articles.

[FSogol]

12. Yeah, here's a good one:

"More employers are backing away from using social networking sites and search engines to screen employment candidates, according to a survey by The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM). Legal risks, including discovering information about protected characteristics, lack of verifiable data and lack of job related information are some of the reasons why companies have pulled back from recruiting at social sites." from http://www.rjandmakay.com/rj-and-makay/social-network-job-screening-declines-but-still-utilized.html/

[CK_John]

14. Pulling back is good, since it caused them problems.

[FSogol]

16. Does that mean we can cancel the labor lotteries?

[IDemo]

11. I'm seeing that a few employers have asked for FB passwords

I certainly find nothing to indicate that this is the new norm among human resources departments. And a few who were doing this have since backed off in the face of negative publicity and legal concerns.

[frazzled]

13. It's illegal in Illinois for a prospective employer to ask for a FB password

Law recently passed and signed by Governor Quinn.

[CK_John]

15. So it was enough of a problem to pass a law, interesting.

[frazzled]

19. Yes, here's an article

By JASON KEYSER

Associated Press

CHICAGO (AP) — Seeking to guard the privacy rights of the social networking generation, Illinois is making it illegal for employers to ask job applicants for passwords to their online profiles.


Gov. Pat Quinn signed the law Wednesday at the Illinois Institute of Technology, where several students lamented that online snooping by bosses has caused some to lose out on jobs and forced others to temporarily deactivate their online profiles.

Illinois is only the second state to have such a law on the books, and it leaves no exceptions — even for openings that require thorough background checks.

In their efforts to vet job applicants, some companies and government agencies have started asking for passwords to log in to a prospective employee's accounts on social media sites, such as Facebook and Twitter. Civil liberties groups, social media users and others have criticized the practice as a serious invasion of privacy, likening it to handing over the keys to your house.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/01/illinois-facebook-law_n_1730077.html

[snooper2]

42. or it was enough of a mundane issue that their congress critters could spend time on it..

and not worry about more pressing matters or subjects that might harm re-election chances

[msanthrope]

2. Sorry, but that's simply not my experience.

I think people who think they 'must' be on Facebook are simply buying into a consumeristic meme.

[GoCubsGo]

29. Nor mine.

Ditto for LinkedIn, which is specific for finding jobs. I have yet to meet or hear of anyone who has gotten a job via either LinkedIn or Facebook.

[closeupready]

30. Also IMO these sites assist law enforcement/domestic intelligence

agencies/big brother, likely sharing not only information that is legitimately a cause for concern or action - such as (for example) child porn or explicit threats of violence - but also other information, on request, even inocuous stuff, like where you travel or who you have 'friended'.

I guess if you don't mind that the FBI knows more about you than they could have ever known in JEH's era, FB away, but I happen to like my privacy.

[msanthrope]

31. I've used it to bust witnesses. nt

[Ruby the Liberal]

41. +1 and to add, many industries do not allow a social media presence

Those that are highly regulated. I know of one such company where compliance made all employees delete their FB and LinkedIn accounts.

Rigid, but it happens.

I don't have a FB myself, and never have.

[dmallind]

3. Ridiculous

I got a new job recently. I've hired two people in the last year. I have no social network exposure in the slightest and have never even considered checking that of either new hire. Not just here either. I've never been asked about it. I've never heard a single person in any company for which I have worked, from 3-person start ups to 90B global conglomerates, even vaguely consider social network presence or character thereof. I'm sure some do, especially for recent graduate management track program entrants, but it is absolutely not universal or even all that widespread.

As for disconnecting companies from choosing who works there, that's the most ludicrous suggestion I've seen here since moon-rape. Let's hope we don't get a housebound misanthrope in the lottery for our outside sales job. Better hope that random engineer we get allocated knows about jet turbines rather than razor blades. Hey who cares if we get a business analyst who's never seen our ERP software - at least hiring's fair now we have no choice in it! Oh I forgot to mention I'm getting married next week - I wonder who the lottery will send me?

[FSogol]

5. The lottery MIGHT just send someone to the crackpot factory.

[CK_John]

18. Many industries use some form of a labor board. Some are dock

worker, high rise construction, long haul drivers, season farm labor, merchant marine, etc.

Corporation just want bodies and really don't care how they are selected.

[hughee99]

17. Well, your bypass surgery is set for next week. Let's hope the labor board sends you a

heart surgeon. The last guy got a proctologist.

[FSogol]

4. Haw: "The only solution is labor lotteries run by a local labor board modeled after draft boards."

Wait, you want to take hiring decisions away from companies that want to hire?

Are you due beer and travel money?

[FAHQ69_7]

8. BS - I have nothing to do with Social Networks at all and NEVER had a problem getting work

I even got a new job last year. All of my friends except one do not do social networks and they have never had problems obtaining a job either.

[laundry_queen]

20. I think the poster is referring to a news story

that happened not too long ago (few weeks ago)...it was all over the news here in Canada...(imo it was probably one of those paid stories) about how NOT having a social networking site at ALL may mean you are technologically or socially inept and maybe employers would take that into consideration. The OP is not pulling this out of his ass.

[dmallind]

22. Sure - and I've seen news stories about companies using graphology, astrology and whatnot too.

That it happens is not the issue. It's the idea that this is a major sea-change in hiring that will universally block you from employment that is rectally sourced. That and the job-roulette idea.

[LanternWaste]

10. I use little more than a prospective employee's resume when deciding who to hire

I use little more than a prospective employee's resume and two interviews when deciding who to hire. Increased staff by 14% over the last six months, and the only way I know if any of them have a social presence is if they tell me of and on their accord.

I don't use a lottery, either.

Not very melodramatic, I admit... but then real life rarely is.

[GeorgeGist]

21. Nitwits will fall in line.

Have a nice day.

[Alduin]

23. I have Twitter and Facebook...

and I keep them both secure. No one can see my info on either site without "friending" or "following" me. And I'll be damned to let anyone have my passwords for those sites or to let any HR person to view my personal sites.

What I do outside of work is my own business and not my employer's.

[lastlib]

33. giving anyone else your password is a violation...

...of the Terms of Service agreement. They wouldn't want to hire anyone who would violate a contract, now, would they?

[Iggo]

24. It's fun watching this premise get shot down every couple of weeks.

[Duer 157099]

25. If I were asked that in an interview

I would respond that I don't have one because I don't have time for it, that I'm too busy with work, and that I know that if I had one there would be a strong temptation to be checking it all the time, during working hours, and that I would rather not have that distraction.

And all of that is the truth.

[Trillo]

26. "who wants to hire a misfit"?

K-12 school absolutely hires every young U.S. kid. The lack of monetary pay in return for the kids' labor is the only problem.

[Yavin4]

27. The only one I use is LinkedIn

and I just put basic information on it that's also on my resume. I am not an exhibitionist. I don't want the world to know my every move and thought.

[hifiguy]

28. Yet another reason I will never, ever

be on Facebook or any similar sites. Fuck social networking. If I have something to say to someone I call them or e-mail them.

[lastlib]

32. The proper response is, "Sorry, giving you my sign-on violates the Terms of Service contract."

[randome]

34. Before this, you were required to wear a tie in some places.

The world changes.

[Jennicut]

35. I don't have a Facebook page.

I have used my Twitter account a total of about five times. I guess I am antisocial to begin with. People like me find uploading pics of themselves excruciating. And I never want to talk to anyone from high school ever again, it was not a pleasant experience to begin with. I am just hoping this social network stuff is just a crappy fad that will pass.

[Blecht]

36. Some bozo administrator or another brings this up from time to time where I work

Not just for hiring, but for other reasons, they try to suggest how great it would be to coordinate work-related activities with social networking. I always make sure I point out what an idiotic idea it is if I am anywhere near when they say it, whether it is at a meeting or a general speech.

People need to be able to keep their work and personal lives as separate as they want them to be. Period.

[Cleita]

39. Correct. The last thing I want to do is socialize with fellow workers

with a very few exceptions, whom I consider as friends.

[Cleita]

37. How about unionizing all workers with the exception of the chief executives, board of directors

or other owners? The corporations would be required to hire all their workers including middle management from the union shops depending on what skills and education is required. The union, on its part, would sent the best workers available, for the job. They could be given three choices on a trial basis to make for a good fit, but no more. The third employee stays as a permanent hire until he/she chooses to move on, or the job is eliminated. There used to be a system like this in the Middle Ages. It was called a Guild. This is how all the great cathedrals in Europe were built that still stand today.

On the plus side, worker issues would be handled by the union. If a worker turned out to be problematic, the union would deal with them. If a worker wasn't liked by a particular employer, the union would look into it but the employer would not be able to give out bad references just because there was an axe to grind somewhere. A job for that employee would be given at another corporation. Since unions are very democratic, everyone would be responsible and accountable to their fellow workers. The union would set the fee or salary recompense of the employee and the benefits received by the employee. They would do the payroll and tax deductions and bill the corporation for the employee.

I see it as a win, win myself. Our system of what seems to be a more subtle version of the master/serf working relationship, I believe has reached its expiration date, and we need to find a better system.

[hunter]

38. I'll show them my DU journal...

... that'll get me the job for sure!

[Cleita]

40. LOL!

I know what you mean.