If you’ve been following this blog, you will see that one of the things we recommend that jobseekers do is to use all their contacts to the max and that includes social networking. Anything and everything to get the word out that you are looking for work: after all, it’s just a numbers game and social networking has the potential to put you in touch with very large numbers of people (the seven degrees of separation rule) so it has to be good, doesn’t it?
Sadly, there is also a down side to social networking – if you aren’t careful, it can actually cost you a job.
So, what dangers can Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin etc represent?
The answer is that it’s all to do with something which has become known as pre-referencing. This is best illustrated by considering two fictitious cases.
Case 1
Steven and his mates all consider themselves to be ‘internet-savvy’ and they use social networking as a preferred means of communicating between each other. As young lads do, they post funny messages and generally clown about.
While they’re out together, Steven gets taken short and has to relieve himself behind some bushes. His mate, Martin, surreptitiously photographs him.
Martin downloads the photograph and ghosts in a picture of a young girl to make it appear that Steven is exposing himself. Martin then uploads the picture along with a message suggesting that he stumbled upon a flasher.
Case 2
Jenny hates her current job because she is bored rigid all the time. While she is at work, she posts messages to her friends telling them how little she has done all day (in order to demonstrate why she is so bored).
Steven and Jenny are now finding it impossible to get new jobs – even ones which otherwise would seem to have their names written on them. Why is that so?
The answer is that employers have started making use of social networking to, what is called, “pre-reference” their employees. Having been denied the option of asking job applicants about home life, hobbies and interests by the Political Correctness lunatics, employers are getting around the issue by reading up about them online. After all, if an employee decides (or appears to decide) to make something public then an employer has a right to read it and take the implications into account.
It’s no longer a case of what you know and how you came to know it, it’s also about who you mix with and what they say about you. A moment’s madness – even if it is unknown to you – can haunt you for ever more.
Without doubt, social networking is a valuable way of keeping in touch and making new contacts. It is also a good tool for finding work – word of mouth is always going to be an improvement on dealing with strangers. Unfortunately this now makes us the victims of what others say about us.
Most people use social networking to contact old schoolmates, former work colleagues and distant family and friends but there are others who judge us by what they read about us. Few employers engaging in pre-referencing are going to question the veracity of what they see, they will just make a snap decision on what they can infer from it.
The antidote is to regularly Google your name, or, better still, set up a Google Alert to keep close tabs on what is said about you. Most of the time the alerts will have nothing to do with you however there may just be that one occasion when you are glad you checked up on it.
If you do locate something that casts aspersions on your good name, you must immediately try and get it rectified. If you can’t or if what is said is an unpleasant truth, then the best thing to do is to be upfront and honest about it with future employers. After all, it’s better you have your say than let others jump to even worse conclusions.
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