18 Comments »It has become a standard of practice for young professionals: logging in to monitor the photos and videos that friends tag them in. In a recent interview with NPR (embedded below), CareerBuilder.com found that one in five employers check Facebook profiles when researching a potential job candidate. Additionally, one third of those that checked Facebook found a reason to reject an applicant due to photos with alcohol or drugs.
I always thought it was obvious to monitor your photos but a large portion of young Facebook users continue to post incriminating photographs of themselves on the site. Personally, I have been forced to reject at least one applicant after he posted photos of himself smoking a joint and chugging liquor. While either activity may not be foreign to many college students, publicly posting those activities definitely shows a lack of professionalism.
If you don’t want to get blocked from employment, it’s probably a good idea to monitor all of the photos that you are tagged in on a daily basis to make sure nothing shows up. One of the biggest challenges is that on Facebook, you don’t have the option of approving tags placed by other users. This means monitoring is a reactive activity and not done for preventative purposes.
Instead users must monitor to limit the damage done. Honestly, I think Facebook may want to consider modifying their policy of letting users instantly tag their friends. Instead, there should be some sort of approval period in which a user must reject within a specific timeframe (say 24 hours), otherwise the tag will automatically be approved. Have you been forced to reject job applicants due to photos of them on Facebook? Do you think Facebook’s policy of letting users automatically tag their friends without approval is a good one?
At the very least, people should increase their privacy settings. This way, their name doesn't show up in searches. People who keep public profiles and then allow photos of themselves doing incriminating things to be posted are not thinking of their futures. Employers have every right to search for potential employees on Facebook, if nothing else but for that candidate to demonstrate their awareness (or lack there of) for the need of discretion when it comes to personal matters.
You could do all that. Or you could do the more sensible thing, which is to not play the role of nanny for current or prospective employers.
What company do you hire for so I know never to go to work there?
Hey Jeffrey,
I hire for myself. Don't worry about it … you have no chance of working for my company
I don't play nanny for others … I just use all information available to make smart decisions. How about you? Do much blind hiring lately?
~Nick
Allow anyone to tag you, but allow the one tagged to remove the tag, which would prevent the photo owner from ever tagging that person again in the photo. More importantly, don't be a dope! If your'e going to act a fool at a party, expect it to be documented and shared!
-Jerry
this doesn't even make sense… why wouldn't someone have privacy settings blocking non-friends? and not friend potential employers…
I agree with the nanny comment. What job are you hiring for that personal drug use and alcohol use disqualifies them? Are you hiring for the DEA? A Catholic church? Someone can be the president of the USA and not be qualified for whatever position you're trying to fill? Ridiculous.
I think that people shouldnt be able to tag photos of you without your approval.
I don't mind that Facebook lets users automatically tag their friends without approval. However, they are missing one vital feature: “Never tag me in this photo”.
Let me tell you a story:
A friend of mine went to a big college party and got pretty drunk. An album went up the next day, in which he was tagged. He has family and work colleges on Facebook that didn't want to see the photos, so he removed his tags. But everyone else who looked through the album (and that was a lot: anyone who went to the party and knew him), noticed he wasn't tagged and so did the “helpful” thing and tagged him again.
It actually got to the point where he deactivated his account and waited it out while everyone had gotten over the album. Then he activated it again.
Facebook badly needs a “Never tag me in this photo” option when you click “Remove tag”.
@Nick O'Neill & others:
I find it highly inappropriate that you or other employers will dismiss applications on the basis that some potential employees have photos of them drinking alcohol on them! I would like to know why you would do this?
The majority of people out there drink socially, but they do not have an alcohol problem. I myself drink in moderation when I am out with friends & there are Facebook photos of this; however, I don't have a drop of alcohol when at home.
I also feel that private life is completely different to professional life & the way I act in my professional life is completely different to the way I act in my personal life, regarding certain things. i.e. I would never drink at work, but I would when out socially in my personal life. I call people “Sir” & “Madam” at work, but wouldn't dream of calling my friends or anyone I kno “Sir” or “Madam” in my personal life. I am also much more considerate & polite at work than I am inmy personal life - especially when I am in a bad mood, I don't show that mood at work.
These are just a few examples as to why I think it is unfair to judge an applicant on thier Facebook photos & profile & it is best to see how they act in a professional interview - that way you will see the professional side of them, which they would always show at work, rather than the personal side of them which they would not show at work.
I feel a lot of innocent, hard-working & intelligent people ar being discriminated against & refused good jobs they deserve just because they do not act exactly as they do in the workplace when out in thier personal life.
Please share your views, Nick & others. This is a topic I feel strongly on.
Doktag wrote:
“He has family and work colleges on Facebook that didn't want to see the photos, so he removed his tags. But everyone else who looked through the album (and that was a lot: anyone who went to the party and knew him), noticed he wasn't tagged and so did the “helpful” thing and tagged him again.”
Once the user removes the tag from a photo, Facebook does not let that person be tagged again. So I am not sure what you are talking about.
Here's what I don't get, why don't you just increase privacy settings then no employer can see your profile OR photos/videos tagged of you?
First, only allow your profile to be viewed by friends.
Then, only allow friends to see photos/videos tagged of you.
Also, you DO have the option of removing a tag someone else makes of you!
Finally, don't create a public search option and if you're really paranoid, limit who can actually search for you. I don't have a public search listing but I let everyone search for me.
All of this would prevent an employer from possibly rejecting your application and block their attempts to see something damaging on you.
I have the president of my division and my boss as a friend, but their on such a limited profile it pretty much looks like LInkedIn to them. And only my closest friends can see any photo tagged of me.
Good thing there's privacy settings!!
I agreed. I find it very annoying to be tagged at ten year old photos having a good time at the bar.
If you untag a photo of yourself, people are no longer able to re-tag it. That could be helpful.
also, other people may have their photo albums set to “public” and not realize it, so although you can control your own settings, it's not as easy to control other people's settings.
Now this is an interesting view I have never thought of. Since I nearly never log in I would not be aware of what is really showing up on my profile. It makes sence to login and clean up your contacts if they show actions (videos and pictures) that could be seen as part of your character.
I am trying to get as much info as possible to program an Facebook App, that will automatically remove tag of you in photos right in the time it appears. So far it seems this is not supported by API
Under your privacy settings, you can choose who can/can’t see tagged photos of you. You can make it only you, or choose specific friends or networks.