UKC

would it be HIGHLY unethical to look up the candidates who have applied for our admin role on FB?
assuming i look up them all it could be viewed as a useful deciding tool, no?

In reply to EricpAndrew:

why not, a little detective work could save you the bother of finding a normal person for your admin role.

In reply to EricpAndrew:

If they have chosen to publish infomation then it is in the public domain so your free to do what you want with it. May be very helpful in getting to know if they will fit in with the others working for you.

In reply to EricpAndrew:

I reckon it's a bit ethically dubious. Perhaps looking them all up would make it a bit less bad but I don't think you can be sure that you'll be able to do it. Surely, they're unlikely to all have a publicly available profile on facebook? I'm not sure how you'd be able to check that they all do before you look at any of them (i.e., how you'd be sure that you're able to treat them all equally by looking at all or none of them).

In reply to EricpAndrew:

Do they even have names that are unusual enough that you could be certain you were getting the right profile?

In reply to EricpAndrew: reassuring perhaps but exceedingly unlikely to be predicitve of much - not that that worries many people

i wouldn't tell anybody if you do though - could get legally tricky

In reply to EricpAndrew:

I don't think it's unethical as they already decided to put their info in the public domain. If any issue arises during the interview that can be settled from your search on Facebook, I would let them know that you already checked their facebook profiles, at least it would keep it in the open.

In reply to EricpAndrew:

not sure how you stand on equal opps with this, equal opps forms are kept private so they can't be unconsciosly used in the recruitment process. Wouldn't be great if you found out their age, sexuality, marital status, ethnic background, religion etc through facebook would it?

also, if someone's having a running battle with someone online over something, frankly it may be of no relevance to the job, but would knowing about it influence your decision to employ them?

I really don't know the answer to this, but these were the things I thought of when I saw your post.

In reply to EricpAndrew: facebook would just be the start. I'd do a google of their name and field/ past employer / hobbies. Just to see if anyone had posted anything libellous on UKC and were stupid enough to post under their real name....

In reply to EricpAndrew:

I'd say do it. If people are stupid enough to have pictures of themselves doing stupid things, along with incoherent ramblings and immoral confessions all available to the world at large by just typing their name into a search engine, I'd say they don't deserve the job in the first place....

Yeah,

If they look proper nice then you know you don't need to listen to them during the interview cos your going to give dem the job....aiiii

Interesting thought, not sure of the legality but it would certainly help to get some background info on them.

Kev

In reply to arctickev:


I think some people have spent too much time in the public sector. What would be illegal about looking at information an individual has chosen to post in the public domain?

Bet your arse there isn't a single private sector employer that would cough a quick search. Save you a lot of heartache later.

In reply to toad:

I suspect that such a search would only serve to confirm your own prejudices, as opposed to tying to find out their suitability for the job.

In reply to EricpAndrew: AFAIK it's pretty routine among HR departments these days to google and check out prospective employees.

In reply to nikinko:

On the other hand if you find out someone is taking enough time during the working day to have a running battle online that might be very relevant to your decision to employ them...

In reply to EricpAndrew:

Bloody ell tho, good reason to take a profile down eh? And to disassociate myself from all those who share a surname with me (they're a bunch of freaks anyway!)

In reply to chris j:

that's ridiculous... you'd get tonnes of hits for the wrong people. I'm sure that anyone (unless you're a prolific webophile) putting your name into google would get lots of people who weren't you!

In reply to nikinko:

not wiht my surname you don't. ;¬(

In reply to EricpAndrew: if you are stupid enough to apply with an email address that is linked to facebook, then you are definitely too dumb to be a good admin.....


Unless you have nothing to hide whatsoever.....in which case you would be very boring

So yes, check em out definitely.....

In reply to EricpAndrew:

No problem at all.

Where you might have an issue is justifying their selection (or not), on information you gleened from facebook rather than their application/interview.

But let it affect your judgement by all means

In reply to nikinko:

Maybe it is the kind of thing you would have to declare as a conflict of interest in being on a panel - having prior knowledge of the candidate, other than what they have simply provided on the applications?

slim, you could be the first test case of someone being taken to court!

In reply to toad:

Wish our (public sector) felt the same about selections....but then again, isn't the private sector equally full of retards and arseholes? Someone's obviously selecting them.

Sadly my essential criteria would no doubt conflict with equal opportunities - the totty would be far more likely to get the job, which I know just isn't right.

In reply to toad:
>

i reckon i could russle (rustle?) up a reasonable argument that using facebook profiles in the selection process would be indirect discrimination on the basis of age at the very least

In reply to EricpAndrew:

You might need to bear in mind that they might put deliberately misleading information on Facebook, and not take anything on there at face value.

In reply to EricpAndrew:
update -
a quick search through FB reveals only one short listed candidate to have a FB profile open to anyone in their network....

so i have decided not to look at it.

In reply to Dr Avid:


aye, i would go with this.
If they are dumb enough to put personal details about you should be free to grab them.

In reply to EricpAndrew: lol. even if you had decided to do so, have you looked at some of the profiles on facebook (or here for that matter)? I think in general there is more than a little tongue in cheek involved - doubt if it would help you much in making a decision

In reply to rich:

Why?

I'm 52 and I'm on Facebook. Are you suggesting that employers might rule people out because if they have a Facebook account they're likely to be too old? :-P

In reply to nikinko:

You wouldn't just look for the name, you've got supplementary info from CVs and application forms, I'm sure you could narrow it down quite a bit...

In reply to EricpAndrew:

Surely unless the candidate is your friend, you cannot find out anything about them other than their name and profile pic?

In reply to EricpAndrew:

What do you think you're going to find? Seriously, admin work is not very difficult. Probably any of the candidates could do it while continuing a life full of debauchery and decadence. The holding of exhaustive and pointless interviewing and researching is just a way of making management think that they do something that is worthwhile.

In reply to johnsdowens:

Yes, and you won't be able to find anything out about them on facebook... unless its radically changed in the last couple of months (starts desperately worrying about life being open to the public domain)

In reply to EricpAndrew:

Unless they have marked their profile as public, you won't be able to find out any 'deciding' information. Unless you consider someone's profile picture to be a deciding factor, in which case (unless they are dressed in full Nazi regalia) you would definitely be acting unethically. I don't think you are allowed to reject job applicants on the grounds of ugliness.

In reply to EricpAndrew: I think it is probably fair game. My sister's firm was recruiting somebody and the inteviewer looked him up on Facbook and found he had a lot of mates who liked playing with guns. This was a deciding factor for him not getting the job as well as a strong suspicion that he had cheated in the tests as well.

I'm sure there are security options to disallow non friends viewing your profile. Not in to the whole facebook thing.

In reply to Bob Loblaw:
its down to the NETWORKING that goes on, say for example you have joined the London network you will be networked with hundreds of people, and if you havent restricted acess on your profile to stop those on the same network looking at all/or your limited profile then its open to loads of people....

its quite fun looking up repectable people youve met in meetings who are in the same network as you and forgotten to sort out their privacy, to find pictures of them dressed as a woman on a night out

In reply to EricpAndrew:

Really? Well, i'm not in any networks and it looks like i'll try and stay that way. Actually, theres too many people already listed as my friends so I think I might come off it anyway.

Not that I have anything to hide; its just getting a little dull.

In reply to sarah79:

Amen to that.

In reply to EricpAndrew:

It depends on how appropriate it is to use information on facebook is to tell how good a person would be at a job. Do you think there would be footage of that person working?

What criteria would you hope to find on facebook that could tell you whether they were a good employee?

I'd say that unless you'd like it done to you, don't do it to others

In reply to tom r:

why does having friends who like guns make someone unsuitable for a job?

why does having friends who like guns mean he had cheated in his tests?

In reply to EricpAndrew:

Who they are and the type of person they are conveyed to be on FB has little or no relation to how they potentially will be as an employee so I think it would be pointless and dangerous to actually judge them by their online FB persona. It's a non-professional environment therefore it'll give no indication as to how they are work-practise wise.

I would say, look them up if you're that bored, however I would highly recommend NOT judging them on anything you read on there.

In reply to Hjonesy:

My stance would be that anyone who'd judge my potential competence as an employee, or whether I'd fit into an organisation, on what they can find out about me from Facebook or on here would not be someone that I'd want to work for!

In reply to Rob Naylor:
aww shucks, you sure you dont want to come and work as my assistant!?

In reply to Bob Loblaw:

You're hired!

http://www.bobloblawqct.ca/

In reply to hutchm:

Blimey! And I thought i'd named myself after an Arrested Development character. See, you never know the mistakes you might make by trawling the internet. Imagine if my employer had seen that when I was inerviewing!!!

In reply to EricpAndrew: I am amazed what some people will put onto their facebook profile. I came across a guy who went to my school who was 6 or 7 years younger than me and on his "about me" part stated how much he likes taking drugs and how authority is bollox etc. He is 23 ffs and can't get a job!! I wonder why.(?)

In reply to EricpAndrew:
But you can't access any info about them without requesting to be their Friend and them accepting so all you've get to see is a small photo.

In reply to EricpAndrew:

Go for it... My Facebook profile is highly dubious as you well know. I wouldn't care whether a potential employer looks at it though, as im positive that my personal antics bear no relation to how well i work. If an employer were to use my Facebook profile against me, i wouldn't want to work for them anyway.

Give us some examples of info you would take into account and why it would affect your decision!

Iain

P.S. - Come to Wales! It's not going to rain!

P.P.S. - Other social networking sites are available.

In reply to nikinko: Well unless they were farmers it would mean he liked hanging around with weirdos who find guns cool. The test and guns aren't related.