Is it wrong for Employers to Google Potential Employees?

Wiki – Social Networks

Hello All,

This week I thought I may create my post at a mid-point of the week, which today more or less is – Wedenesday. This week I though we may discuss whether it id ‘ok’ for an employer to google you, and say view your FaceBook profile and base the information they have found to hire you or not.

Most of you I would imgaine have heard of this, and some of you may have even experienced it! This is apparently done quite often with even colleges and universities doing it too, for potentail students. The Times has even come up with figures of 1 in 5 employers doing so.

When you go for a job, as well as you telling your potentail employer of your past, such as work experience, it is quite usual for them to do a bit more research of their own before hiring. However is there a point, that when reached, invades our privacy?

Well soem people seem to think there is and are calling for a ‘coalition’ to see if existing discriminative legislation covers this, and if not to try and extend them and even the Data Protection Act, so that employers have to ask permission to Google their potentioal employees or see say their FaceBook or Linkedin profile.

Overall at face value I do not really feel it is that much of a problem for a potentail employer to view say your FaceBook or Linkedin profile, as after all one of the main purposes of Linkedin id to attract potential employers! However I do not think it is right if you research a potential employee, to find facts based on information that is not strictly releavant to the job. As a very plain simple example: You do not hire someone due to their music tastes etc.

Still with an area like this where social networks become involved, the old saying goes something like: ‘Dont put up things you do not want everyone to see’. Although Social Networks like FaceBook are doing what they can to improve privacy control, there are things that can slip through the ‘net’ as such. A classic example I heard of an employee who had a bad day at work, who then came home and put effectively a hat/smear campaign against his place of work – This was viewed by his place of work, and as you can imagine he was sacked. Overall I feel if you don’t do things like that, most people should be ‘ok’!

Well that is for this week, but we will have to see what happens to business legislation of this nature! Please Leave a comment if you wish!