Employers asking about FB

[Venus193]

If my employer wants to know if I have a Facebook account, he can search me on Facebook himself and find out. The public can see my picture and network, and that's about it. There's a reason that it's private. Who I am dating, what religion I practice, and what my political beliefs are are none of my employer's business.

That is exactly how I feel about it.

My Facebook page does not include my school information, my employment history, or even my birthday.  I have ignored all friend requests to play games or to add myself to its birthday reminder stuff.  I truly find a lot of it very intrusive.

A friend of mine is going to be in serious trouble next year when she starts seeking employment as a social worker because of all the political stuff she posts.  She brushes off my concerns about her Facebook use so she will see this for herself when this bites her on the tush.

[Hollanda]

My Facebook account is locked down.  If I want to be friends with someone, I am the one who sends the invitation. I don't friend just anyone. My Facebook is mostly pictures of DS, with a couple of random statuses.  I have some very old pictures of myself on FB that people tagged me in, but these pictures go back 10+ years and although they show me having a good time, there is really nothing incriminating on there.
 
If a future employer asked me about Facebook I would tell the truth: I use it simply as a way to keep friends and family I don't see often updated with my son's growth and progress, and very little other than that.  Apart from random X Factor posts etc, I very rarely actually post a status. Why not? I don't like the idea of people knowing where I am and what I am doing.  The odd picture of DS looking particularly cute or smart, that's about it.  In addition, when I am at home I am caring for my son, so I simply don't get chance to peruse the site constantly as I used to do.  If something takes my fancy I will respond to it.
 
I've heard stories about current employers trying to search FB to see what their employees are doing in their spare time and when they are supposedly "off sick".  Now my viewpoint is this: when you are at work, you (general you) should not be Facebooking. If you are genuinely off work sick, you should not be Facebooking.  If you are well enough to mess around on Facebook, you're well enough to work.  Just my opinion, YMMV.
 
Regarding personal beliefs, politics or religion, I don't go there. I just don't.  My beliefs are very private to me and I don't like the feeling of having to justify them to anyone. 
 
A question: how far back would a potential employer go? I'm asking because I'm curious.  People change.  Priorities change.  Life moves on.  A prolific party-goer at the age of 25 would be (usually) a completely different person 10 years later.  Would a potential employer ever be likely to go all the way back over someone's Facebook history to see whether they could find anything incriminating? 

[HermioneGranger]

My Facebook account is locked down.  If I want to be friends with someone, I am the one who sends the invitation. I don't friend just anyone. My Facebook is mostly pictures of DS, with a couple of random statuses.  I have some very old pictures of myself on FB that people tagged me in, but these pictures go back 10+ years and although they show me having a good time, there is really nothing incriminating on there.
 
If a future employer asked me about Facebook I would tell the truth: I use it simply as a way to keep friends and family I don't see often updated with my son's growth and progress, and very little other than that.  Apart from random X Factor posts etc, I very rarely actually post a status. Why not? I don't like the idea of people knowing where I am and what I am doing.  The odd picture of DS looking particularly cute or smart, that's about it.  In addition, when I am at home I am caring for my son, so I simply don't get chance to peruse the site constantly as I used to do.  If something takes my fancy I will respond to it.
 
I've heard stories about current employers trying to search FB to see what their employees are doing in their spare time and when they are supposedly "off sick".  Now my viewpoint is this: when you are at work, you (general you) should not be Facebooking. If you are genuinely off work sick, you should not be Facebooking.  If you are well enough to mess around on Facebook, you're well enough to work.  Just my opinion, YMMV.
 
Regarding personal beliefs, politics or religion, I don't go there. I just don't.  My beliefs are very private to me and I don't like the feeling of having to justify them to anyone. 
 
A question: how far back would a potential employer go? I'm asking because I'm curious.  People change.  Priorities change.  Life moves on.  A prolific party-goer at the age of 25 would be (usually) a completely different person 10 years later.  Would a potential employer ever be likely to go all the way back over someone's Facebook history to see whether they could find anything incriminating? 

I strongly disagree.  I spent last week in bed sick with a fever.  I was obviously not well enough to go to work.  However, I would occasionally poke around facebook on my kindle or phone.  It's not exactly a strenuous activity. 

[Margo]

I'm not sure how common it is. I've seen a couple of articles suggesting that it was becoming common in the USA for employers to ask for passwords, and I've seen a couple where legal and IT people have explained why this is a terrible idea, especially for the employer!

On a personal level, I have a facebook account. I have nothing there which I would be embarrassed about, bit I dio have things there which are private (pictures of my family, for instance) My privacy settings are high - you can't see my page unless I have friended you, and my profile picture is not of me, so unless you already know me elsewhere online (where I use the same picture) you won'tr know for sure it's me, and unless I know you, I won't freind you.

If an employer askes, then my first response would be to ask why they wished to know, and depending on heir reply, my next would be to tell them either that I have an account but it is kept provate and for family only, or (possibly) that I have an account but no longer use it (true, although not the whole truth. In addition to the account I use, I have a very old account. I cannot remember the password and no longer have the e-mail address it was linked to.
I might also explain that it breaches facebooks T&Cs to give your password to another person, so I won't be doing that.

As an employer, I google a prospective employee after the initial interview and before recalling them for a final interview or offering them a job. Ihave not yet had a situatio where what I founf caused me to reconsider hiring someone. What someone does in their own time is not my bisiness, but someone who has posts which were rude about their employer or clients, indiscreet about things which happened at work, or which showed that they had a habit of calling in sick after heavy nights out, or spending a lot of time on facebook or similar sites during working hours I would thinkl again.

If they have the common sense to keep their account locked, or accessible but discreet, then the rest iis none of my business.

If the question is geared to finding out whether an employee would be able to use social networking as part of their jobn I would be asking 'how familiar are you with facebook / twitter, not about their personal accounts.

[alkira6]

Before I realized what a "thing" FB was (yes, the rock I lived under was very comfortable, why do you ask?  ) I was out because of illness/surgery. About 3-4 days after surgery I posted on FB that I felt like crap but could now sit up by myself and go potty alone.  I was chastized for posting at all when I got backc to work.  I quickly locked down FB tighter that fort knox that afternoon.

[Hollanda]

Before I realized what a "thing" FB was (yes, the rock I lived under was very comfortable, why do you ask?  ) I was out because of illness/surgery. About 3-4 days after surgery I posted on FB that I felt like crap but could now sit up by myself and go potty alone.  I was chastized for posting at all when I got backc to work.  I quickly locked down FB tighter that fort knox that afternoon.

Happened to me too.  It was just out of work hours when I "liked" a comment someone else had written.  DS was at my parents' house (our childminder was on holiday so Mum and Dad had him for a night and the following day).  I had posted the evening before (before I had the ear infection, which came on overnight) that it was good for DS to go to Grandma and Grandad's without Mummy and Daddy.  A close family friend said something like "It's good for Mummy and Daddy too, it gives them quality time".  I simply liked the comment. 
 
I went back to work on the Friday and my co worker said "Oh did you enjoy your quality time?" It took me ages to work out what had happened.  Yes, my boss did hear about it, yes I was asked about it and told the truth, and showed her the status concerned.  She simply smiled and apologised but she had to ask.  Fair enough.  Co worker still doesn't believe me, I don't think.
 
Someone I work with who was a friend of mine in the loosest sense of the word, had commented to my co worker that I was talking about spending quality time with DH when I was meant to be off sick.  I am just glad I had not posted on FB at all when I was off sick.  The person involved has now been removed, since I have my suspicions it was malicious in intent (given previous history with this person) and my privacy settings ramped up.
 

[Venus193]

I never post daily statuses exactly for these reasons.

[Cat-Fu]

I am an avid facebook user and post even during work, because that is one of many acceptable activities at my job while on break (thank goodness, I'd go crazy otherwise).

My name is fairly unusual so my facebook is locked down very tight—you can't even find me in a facebook search, let alone a google search. I would not be surprised if I were asked if I had a facebook, and I would be honest about its existence and my desire for my personal life to remain so.

I think interviews are a two way street—if they're asking for my facebook password, then I'm going to understand that they are not a company I want to work for if they so casually intrude upon my private life. It is unfortunate that employers are taking advantage of the desperation of many applicants to snoop in ways that were previously unavailable.

[ydpubs]

There are SO many things a potential employer is NOT allowed to ask in an interview, your age, s3xual orientation, political views, etc. Tons of things that could be on your FB page. I would find it incredibly hard to believe asking for a password for unlimited access to all this verboten--during an interview-- information is legal.

Also, your friends and loved ones will have information and pictures that they do not want put under scrutiny. I know I have relatives that would be angry if I did such a thing. I would site this and that my FB page is private and absolutely refuse to give it up. I would terminate the interview and march my butt to the nearest lawyer for the reasons cited above.

The only jobs where asking about a FB page is appropriate are ones involving managing the company's social media. Even then I would NOT give anyone my password.

[wolfie]

There are SO many things a potential employer is NOT allowed to ask in an interview, your age, s3xual orientation, political views, etc. Tons of things that could be on your FB page. I would find it incredibly hard to believe asking for a password for unlimited access to all this verboten--during an interview-- information is legal.

It's not that they are not allowed to ask it - it's that they are not allowed to use that information to make the decision on wether or  not to hire you. It's incredibly hard for them to prove that they didn't use that information against you so they don't ask that information in an interview to prevent you from slapping them with a discrimination suit later. So it is legal to get it - just incredibly unwise.

[SingActDance]

Do the positions your friends are applying for involve social media at all? These days, a ton of jobs going to have some interaction with social media even if it doesn't fall directly under your job description. I've been asked this question in lots of interviews, mostly because the organization wants to know if I can navigate these sites with ease. In my last interview I was asked if I had a Facebook page, a Twitter account, a blog and a Tumblr. I think it probably has less to do with violating privacy, and more to do with assessing skills.