2008 Woodie Awards
Online sites being used to screen employees
Alison Myers
Issue date: 10/19/06 Section: opinion
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Anyone who uses the Internet has heard of Myspace and Facebook. In case you haven't, these are two of the most popular social networking sites out there today. They allow users to share information about them and post pictures on user profiles. Members can then add people to their friends list that they are already real life friends with or add a person who seems interesting and get to know them better. However, I have found some articles online and in magazines recently that indicate the person we'd least expect to be on these sites is looking at what we put up: prospective and/or present employers.
Now when I first heard about this, I was pretty disturbed. Why should our employers care what we do outside of work? Isn't all that matters to them is that we do a good job inside work, we get along fine with our coworkers, and sometimes we go a little above and beyond what we're asked? What right do they have to find out what we're up to outside of work? Recently, though, I've been looking at both sides of this issue, although I can't totally side with one particular party.
On my side of things, I don't think employers need to be involved in our outside-of-work life. If we choose to go out with friends after work and have some fun, whether or not it involves alcohol, that's our business. We may hang out with people we work with, but that's only if we choose to. If someone were to go to a party after work, would it really look that bad to our employer? Sure, we are employees and we strive to be the best worker we can, but when we are not working, we should be able to have a life and live it to the fullest. That doesn't just apply when we're in college; I think that applies to the rest of our life, even if we're not partying and just want to travel to a place we've always wanted to go to. There's no need for us to justify all our outside-of-work activity to our bosses. If our outside-of -work life is that important, why can't they just talk to us and get to know us rather than snooping around our webpage to find out more information? I believe that the only ways to judge an employee are looking at the job they do at work, the attitude they bring in with them and the qualifications and experience they are bringing to the job. A webpage is really not the best way to get to know a person.
Now when I first heard about this, I was pretty disturbed. Why should our employers care what we do outside of work? Isn't all that matters to them is that we do a good job inside work, we get along fine with our coworkers, and sometimes we go a little above and beyond what we're asked? What right do they have to find out what we're up to outside of work? Recently, though, I've been looking at both sides of this issue, although I can't totally side with one particular party.
On my side of things, I don't think employers need to be involved in our outside-of-work life. If we choose to go out with friends after work and have some fun, whether or not it involves alcohol, that's our business. We may hang out with people we work with, but that's only if we choose to. If someone were to go to a party after work, would it really look that bad to our employer? Sure, we are employees and we strive to be the best worker we can, but when we are not working, we should be able to have a life and live it to the fullest. That doesn't just apply when we're in college; I think that applies to the rest of our life, even if we're not partying and just want to travel to a place we've always wanted to go to. There's no need for us to justify all our outside-of-work activity to our bosses. If our outside-of -work life is that important, why can't they just talk to us and get to know us rather than snooping around our webpage to find out more information? I believe that the only ways to judge an employee are looking at the job they do at work, the attitude they bring in with them and the qualifications and experience they are bringing to the job. A webpage is really not the best way to get to know a person.