by Dawn Louise Robinson

Created on: January 13, 2010

Employers have a duty to themselves, their clients and their employees to ensure that the people working for them are suitable for the job. Many employers use references, background checks or aptitude tests to ensure the person they are considering hiring is intellectually and emotionally equipped for the job they are hired to do. Likewise performance checks and periodical reviews are used to ensure employees continue to be up to the pressures of the job. Nobody questions the effectiveness of these practices or doubts the right of the employer to implement them.

Employers are looking for an emotionally mature workforce who can handle pressure and take criticism without reacting like a toddler who has had their favorite toy taken away. An employee who projects a positive image of the company they work for is far more likely to keep their job or be promoted than one who projects a negative image.

In an age of increasing technological interaction, where we share more and more of our lives with friends, colleagues, family and strangers online, we really should not be surprised that employers are using social networking sites to check up on prospective or established staff.

The level of privacy a participant on a social networking site can enjoy is generally set by the user themselves; however this does not necessarily mean that your boss isn’t going to see the derogatory comment you have posted on your Facebook status update. The majority of people have work colleagues on friend lists on these sites, and these colleagues can see everything that is posted. The wrong word at the wrong time means your boss is aware you have posted negative comments, worse the wrong word in the wrong place means prospective clients are aware of negative comments online and are more reluctant to use the company.

People need to be aware that once something is posted on a social networking site, regardless of personal privacy settings, it is in the public domain. People using computers at work to access the internet do not always think to clear their browsing history, or empty the cache of visited pages; these pages are then accessible to anyone using the same computer. If you don’t want your boss to know what you really think of his new advertising campaign or his latest time and efficiency initiative then don’t post it on the internet, anywhere. Inadvertently telling a prospective client that the product or policy of the company is not up to standard is a guaranteed way to lose your job, whether it be done verbally or virtually.

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