Today I was reading some tweets from a friend of mine that caught my attention. The tweets were talking about how much social networks are more and more part of your curriculum vitae for future employers, because they are accessing them more and more to find out more about you. A tweet also said that, if a job offer is withdrawn because the future employer saw your Facebook, for example, it's your fault, not theirs.
Although I can see that only knowledge isn't enough nowadays, moral also is (or at least it should be), I cannot understand how future employers can base their opinion in what they read in an "about me" or a picture they see on someones Facebook, for example. How can future employers judge someone based on these things to give them a job or not? Is it fair or sensible? Are those people being truthful in the network? Can they know whether they really are, or are not, this or that way by looking at a network profile? These are questions I asked myself.
It seems to me that people can say everything you want to hear and write everything you would expect them to, just to get what they want, but not because of whom they really are. Everybody nowadays knows that internet can make you or break you, let's say. Maybe that candidate who seems to be great for the job copied something from someone else's work, article or profile on internet, and put in theirs, just because they thought it would take them somewhere, not because they necessarily agreed with it. What about people that are being honest and showing themselves as they really are, but seem less than perfect in the social network, for example? Are they to be in disadvantage compared to the ones that chose to deceive? How can a future employer know who they really are based on internet?
With globalization, people from different cultures live and work in different countries. How can the future employer disregard cultural differences? Maybe what would be tolerated in one country, would be an offense in another. The future employees, who were not born in the country they're currently working in, might not always be familiar with certain "work rules" in that particular country. This takes time to get used to, and maybe, the future employee will never be able to get used to certain things. For example, I was told once that it is an offense to call a manager by his name instead of by his nickname, if this is the way they prefer to be called, here in England. In Brazil, it doesn't make any difference at all if you call someone by their name or nickname, even if they prefer nicknames, and it would be viewed as totally acceptable. In England, for example, drinking beer during lunch breaks is normal and accepted, but it wouldn't be seen as professional and acceptable in Brazil, for example. Can you really say that British people are not professional because they drink alcohol during lunch breaks and people from Brazil are professional because they don't? No, you can't. Let's say that a British citizen tweeted that they were going to have a pint with their colleagues at lunch break in a sunny day. Would future employers from different countries dismiss this person's application because of that? Should they?
It seems to me that future employers using the internet to choose their candidates can lead to discrimination. This is something that our laws combat so much and it seems that it could be accepted, if it involves internet. And, in this scenario, it seems that future employers will have the right to say that it is the applicants fault, not theirs. So, who is to prove that a future employer is discriminating someone by what they have in their profile, for example, religion, interests and etc? How can anyone prove that they weren't chosen by a future employer because they have a criminal record and this information is available on a social network, for example? How can anyone prove that they weren't chosen by a company because they wrote about their religious views and it's not the same religious views of their future superiors who are about to hire someone? I don't think anyone can prove it. But should we start writing about or putting pictures of things we think others will approve of, or write about and put deceitful pictures of whatever we want to? Wasn't it the point of social networks when they came up: to allow people to be virtually spontaneous and socialize via internet? Is this point starting to be distorted now?
People make mistakes. Everyone does. If someone was very young and put a picture on internet that was less than nice, why should this individual "pay"for that, by not getting that vacancy they wanted, later on when they are mature? If an individual wrote something in the heat of the moment that seems a bit unpleasant, why should this individual "pay" for that professionally? Does it mean that these people are not good people or good employees? Maybe they are not, but maybe they just made a mistake, but are essentially good people and will make great employees. The fact that we cannot tell if it was a simple mistake, or if the person doesn't strike us as being how we would like them to be professionally, is enough to make the "internet recruitment process" unfair.
All of this makes me think that future employers should be like a jury that is asked to disregard some information in a trial, if this information is not accepted by the court as being valid "evidence". The evidence would be the social network information and future employers would be the jury (if you're a lawyer, pardon me if my metaphor is not too good!). It does feel to me like we can potentially be judged and be "convicted" or not by future employers for our internet personal content. The sentence would be to not get the job you wanted because of social network content. Everybody has the right to a fair trial, right? Even the criminal who was convicted for a crime that they committed in real life will need to work to survive someday, in the real world, so maybe we should ask ourselves whether it's acceptable that future employers can dismiss anyone's application based on what we seem to be on a social network.
I might be seen as trouble to many future employers because I write and I say exactly what I think. Many of them don't like that in an employee, although, by law, they cannot give it as a reason for not choosing me. But I believe that everybody should be totally honest about who they are, we shouldn't be forced to being robotic or paranoid about what people might think about us, without knowing us. It doesn't make me less than a team player or a reliable employee to be outspoken, direct and strong willed. It doesn't mean I can't follow leads either. Thinking out of the box and being upfront about it is a great personality trait to have, in my opinion, but in my personal experience, it hasn't been always appreciated in the professional world. We are free human beings and future employers should cherish our differences, not try to make it harder for anyone to get a job because they are not exactly the way they wanted us to be on the internet. Kids might write silly things that are rebellious to impress their mates, once upon a time, but they shouldn't be punished for that after they grow out of it, for example. The young ones, in particular, can be in disadvantage just for once being young and immature, like everybody else once was. People can be so different on internet, because they choose to be a character, many times, and not because of who they really are...this can be really tricky. They might create this character on internet, who doesn't share their real beliefs, tendencies and personality, because they want to be that character, but are not. Or maybe they just want to convince people they are that character to gain something from it. It seems that it can be better to be whom you really are, but use a pseudonym to avoid being judged, than to pretend to be something you are not and use your real name. What does that mean? How can you know that what I wrote here is what I really mean? You can only tell if I mean what I wrote if you know me. If you don't know me, don't judge me.
In order to have a better society, we have to try to be understanding, even when the situation involves money. People can be extremely competitive or unreasonable when it's about financial matters, positions, status, appearances! There is that popular saying which makes total sense: "Appearances deceive us".
I think that the video below is interesting... especially because of the final question that appears on the screen. I don't know if the information in this video is correct or up to date, but it does make you think.
Peace!
Mrs. P
