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| LOL! The image I should've gone with to start! |
Sage advice, that. So... (Jerry Seinfeld voice) "WHAT IS UP with prospective employers thinking they have the right to demand my Facebook password as part of a job interview?!?"
It's a practice that Facebook actually forbids, and that legislation has already begun to attempt to prevent. Among the currently-employed, many of us have the bravado to say that we'd just get up and walk away from the interview. However, when confronted with the reality of this situation, many un-employed (or job seeking) people may not have the luxury of doing just that, perhaps because of mouths needing to be fed today.
So let me tell ya what *I* think about it, and what I'd do if asked.
First off, I think the whole practice is illegal at face value. Every "job application" I've ever seen states NOT to disclose your religious or political affiliation, and these are questions that cannot be asked in an interview (understanding the employer's perspective however, the link also details what they can ask, to get basically the same information). Quite simply, these answers could be prejudicial .. either they'd reject you because they don't like your ideology, or they might hire you over a more qualified candidate because they are of the same ideology as you.
In speaking with some ladies (teachers, it turned out) about this very topic whom I was serving just yesterday, they also informed me that women in particular cannot be asked about their children, or plans to have children. The interviewer might reject them thinking they'd just be asking for maternity leave eventually, or miss work if a child got sick.
Well guess what Sherlock? Personal Facebook pages generally contain ALL of that information! Point-blank, because it's illegal to ask, this "Facebook interview" style needs to be made illegal as well, and soon.
While most employers may not be asking your actual password, another common practice that has evolved recently is that the interviewer, or employer, requires that you "friend" the company, or their HR manager, so they can keep tabs on whether you say disparaging things about your employer.
As the kids I work with today say "I call BS..."
Dear employers : I have many years of tending bar under my belt. If you're willing to pay someone in your company to monitor your employee's pages to police this, then you're also going to have to hire private detectives to sit in every bar in your city. Why? Take it from me : people say disparaging things about their employers by the droves every single day over happy hour. You're not going to be able to stop it, and trust me, you're better off not knowing anyways!
I would LOVE to be the guy (or to inspire a reader, perhaps?) to go into an interview "miked" - aka "wired for sound" and to record such an interview to get some big company sued and this topic settled in Federal Court. If I don't, one of you more cantakerous readers of mine can feel free to act out my proposed scenario :
Interviewer: "Okay Mr/Ms Jones, you look like a great candidate for the position. We just need to have a look at your Facebook profile before we can continue to move forward."
Me (or You) : "Oh wow, I don't see what my personal life has to do with my ability to perform the job?"
Interviewer : "Well, it doesn't neccessarily, it's just a procedure we follow."
Me (or You): "You know, I'm not exactly comfortable with that idea, because my personal Facebook page has references to my family life, and my political and religious views, which I know you're not supposed to ask about in an interview. Are you saying that obtaining this information is essential to determining whether you'll hire me, or not?"
Interviewer (either squirming, or copping an attitude) : "No, not at all. We have no intention of asking about those things. It's just (insert lame rhetoric here)... but I'm afraid we can't move ahead with the interview process without your Facebook information. It's just policy."
Me (or You) : "Can I have that in writing?"
Interviewer (squirming) : "Excuse me?"
Me (or You) : "I object to having to give you more information than the law allows about my family life, and my religious and political views, and if you look at my personal page, that's exactly the information you're going to see first. So no, I'm not giving you that type of access, and I'd like to see a copy of your policy that states you won't consider me for employment without my personal information - Facebook or otherwise."
Interviewer : "I'm afraid this interview is over."
Me (or You) : "Then that's what you're saying? That if I don't provide you my Facebook and other personal information, that I can't even interview?"
Interviewer: "I'm sorry, but I'm afraid so."
Me - to myself "Thanks for the million bucks - looks like I won't be needing the job anyway!" and I'd walk out the door with my recording to go find a lawyer who wants to take this on a contingency fee.
If you try it first, be sure and send me a nice tip for the advice!
Hey, thanks to my mad skills with internet key word usage, I know that some of you reading this are probably first-time visitors to this page, who were just searching out the topic. Thanks for the visit, and you should definitely subscribe to my blog before you click your merry way home. I am (so I'm told) "a very gifted and talented writer and story-teller, with a great sense of humor, who subscribers look forward to hearing from, because I bring enjoyment even to people who have no interest in the Food and Bar industry." Check out more of my tales over on the right, if you don't believe me. Then go to the top of any page, and pony up your e-mail addy. You'll be glad you did!
And if you happen to have a website, business, or service of your own, you should definitely sally over to http://www.bensettle.com/ to get on his list of how to write e-mails that sell!
While I'm being all self and cross-promty, if you are a business owner who found this page curious about Facebook and the law, let me bless your socks off as well, leaving you with more than you came for. I do more than wait tables and write about it : my "day job" involves offering you a service that will almost definitely increase your sales dramatically. Leave me a comment below with your url and contact info (I'll delete it so others won't spam you) and will send you some info you really need and don't even know yet how badly you want, but you do - especially if you're involved with Auto Repair, Dental or Veterinarian work, or Furniture or Appliance Sales.
If that's you, you came to this page looking for one type of advice, and I may have just saved you a million bucks or so with this article. Let me show you what I can add to that in the very near future.
We don't have to meet in person to set you up either, but IF we do, I promise I won't come miked.
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