Comment I did this... (Score 1) 677
This subject was on the news the other week, which made me laugh because I had just come back from doing recruitment at a university and was in the middle of Googling the applicants as the story came on.
Quite frankly, half of these kids had myspace accounts or websites which I found by googling their e-mails. Most of these were 'inappropriate' in some way, but I didn't hold it against them because quite honestly it wasn't 'bad.'
I am not saying that I would never hold someone's online persona against them (e.g. if the content was racist or really disturbing) but in most cases it doesn't make sense to disqualify someone because of something they posted on the web. We're looking for inteligent, fun people to work with, so we don't want to reject people we like just because we found an excuse to do so online. Most employers are looking to hire, not to reject, so I think this subject is overblown. If I think someone is going to be good for the company, I couldn't care less what they wrote on the web five years ago, unless it's indicative of real personality issues.
By the way, I am in the process of creating an online resource for people who do technical interviews and those who are preparing for being interviewed on both Junior and Senior level. If you have any interest in helping me out by reviewing the site, please send me a message.
Thanks!
Quite frankly, half of these kids had myspace accounts or websites which I found by googling their e-mails. Most of these were 'inappropriate' in some way, but I didn't hold it against them because quite honestly it wasn't 'bad.'
I am not saying that I would never hold someone's online persona against them (e.g. if the content was racist or really disturbing) but in most cases it doesn't make sense to disqualify someone because of something they posted on the web. We're looking for inteligent, fun people to work with, so we don't want to reject people we like just because we found an excuse to do so online. Most employers are looking to hire, not to reject, so I think this subject is overblown. If I think someone is going to be good for the company, I couldn't care less what they wrote on the web five years ago, unless it's indicative of real personality issues.
By the way, I am in the process of creating an online resource for people who do technical interviews and those who are preparing for being interviewed on both Junior and Senior level. If you have any interest in helping me out by reviewing the site, please send me a message.
Thanks!
