For the February newsletter of the Publicity Club of New England, I wrote about the power of Google in terms of getting a job. I’ve heard from several professionals in different industries that they will sometimes type in the name of someone in Google before even interviewing them. One of my co-workers said that she looks up each potential new intern on Facebook.com. Of course as soon as I heard this I jumped online to check out what profile picture was displayed during my interviews. I was slightly tanner, wearing a low cut tank top at a party over the summer. I was clearly having a fabulous time. And why shouldn’t I be? I’m in college. Even when I get out of college I’m still going to be having a great time. My pictures reflect that. Moreover, if any of my pictures have me consuming alcohol, it is because I am of legal age to drink. Funnier still, most of my “drinking pictures” are at family functions (more the reason to drink if you ask me).
Facebook.com came out in the first semester of my freshman year of college. It really couldn’t have come at a better time. Everyone had just left high school and was looking to stay in touch while still making friends at a new school. It was only available to college students at the time, which really made the whole experience that much more elite. Of course being Facebook friends means nothing, however the “relationship status” is still seen as the most official part of the whole profile. Call us losers, but my girlfriends and I were all a buzz when our hot male friend’s relationship status went from “In a relationship” to “It’s complicated.” Clearly Facebook.com is a social networking site. So why are people trying to rob us of this?
More and more I am hearing that people need to “clean up their profile.” Despite the privacy, I have been told that companies can find ways to see my profile and my pictures. I’ve also heard the other end of it: “I wouldn’t work for a company that frowns upon me enjoying a drink with my friends.” I feel as though the problem would be if those two worlds combined. If my personal life does not affect my work, then why should this be an issue? Perhaps I’m still living on my mother’s stories about partying with her cigarette and casino clients when she was in advertising. In fact, some of those playful outings helped keep her client happy or even secure new business.
The New York Times published an article today on a new Facebook.com change: “Starting on Wednesday, Facebook’s more than 67 million members will be able to create and manage lists of friends that are granted different levels of access to information on a member’s profile.” Thus, your friends might be able to see a different amount of information than co-workers. No offense to my lovely co-workers, but I’m not in any rush to friend request them. Just like I would not be asking my friends to connect to me on LinkedIn. However at this point, even the president of my company is on Facebook. Another employee said she gets job offers through the site. I overheard another today, who coincidentally deleted hundreds of her pictures this morning, saying that Facebook is “sooo college anyways.” So would making my Facebook profile more professional help me get a job? Could showing that I have an active out-of-work social life hurt me in getting a job? What is a twenty-one year old college senior to do?
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March 19, 2008 at 7:39 pm
So would making my Facebook profile more professional help me get a job? It might, yes. Could showing that I have an active out-of-work social life hurt me in getting a job? Unfortunately, it may. What is a twenty-one year old college senior to do? Let me ask you some questions. Are you ready to sift through hundreds of photos deleting the ones that show you with a drink in your hand? Are you ready to edit your profile so like a card to a coworker or client is PC?
Well seeing as you are so inclined on seeing your name in a google search of “Megan Goullet” you may want to. I mean you wouldn’t want to see a result that had your name labeled because someone commented on a drunk picture of you. Remember that mayor from Oregon who was called for to resign because of racy pictures she posted on her Myspace page? Residents of the town believed that she was no longer able to hold a position of leadership becasue she posed in her undies. “That’s my personal life,” she said. “It has nothing to do with my mayor’s position.” Goes to show you that there is a fine line between professional and social life, especially now that your social life can be put on display for all on Facebook.