Thursday, February 23, 2012
Facebook Profiles Found to Predict Job Performance
WSJ.com: Could your Facebook profile be a predictor of job performance?
A new study from Northern Illinois University, the University of Evansville and Auburn University suggests it can. In an experiment, three "raters"—comprising one university professor and two students—were presented with the Facebook profiles of 56 college students with jobs.
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5 comments:
I'd say that this isn't out of the question. As sad as it is, Facebook has an uncanny ability to reflect the essence of a person in real life through just a few words and photos. There are those who are cautious of what they post - who are candid but careful. And those who are not. Those people don't tend to hold much social grace in real life either. If you sound like a bro when yo type, if you don't take enough time to spell out "you," you're probably a bro who actually can't spell all that well. So yes, maybe it shouldn't be a major factor in an employment search, but it's definitely something worth taking a look at?
This makes a lot of sense. While stalking someone on facebook isn't anything like meeting them in person, certain aspects of their personality are fairly apparent. Negativity and intelligence stand out to me when I see someone's facebook. Some people just complain ALL the time, and I predict those people aren't very welcome in their job environment. And as Kassondra said, people that have crappy grammer or spelling, or write about weird things like their poop or something, stand out too. I'm not sure what this article is implying, but I wouldn't say that your facebook affects your job though, but that they both just indicate things about you.
This seems reasonable, but it is still weird to think about what sort of impression your facebook is giving someone. I also wonder how often people need to post or use facebook in order to for their profile to be an accurate representation of what sort of person they are. Facebook is a tool that your piers also use to help identify who you are so it is important to reflect upon what sort of things people will see when they go to your facebook. I did find it interesting that they discussed how partying photos looked to other people and I was a bit surprised that the study found that it did not impact how the people looking at the profiles negatively.
I find this at once terrifying and intriguing. While I can see how certain types of Facebook interactions can make a person seem more or less attractive as a potential candidate, it's a little intimidating that my every interaction with other people, and the experiences I choose to post on my social media page may one day be used to determine whether or not I get a job interview. In fact, though I generally view social media as a public forum and post accordingly, the types of information the article says the researchers were evalutating, such as interactions with friends and hobbies, seem to be crossing the line between publicly available information, and snooping. I guess, I'm likening it to eavesdropping on another tables conversation at a restaurant, yes they are in a public place, but there is still a fairly reasonable expectation of privacy. I will certainly be rechecking my privacy settings soon though!
I think it is just human nature to want to find out as much as one can about a potential job candidate. Going on facebook can give an employer some added information that could make or break a deal. I, as most people I know, have a facebook. Most things that are on mine are there because of other people putting them there. I don't have much time to be on facebook. So, with me at least, the employer wouldn't be getting a very accurate picture of who I am or what I do. Having said that, I do feel people should monitor their facebooks in case something is on there that they don't want others to see. There is no sense in asking for trouble.
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