Is myspace or Facebook preventing you from getting a job?

Are your social networking profiles having a negative effect on your job prospects? A survey by a recruitment agency found that one in five employers are using social networking sites, such as myspace, Facebook and Bebo, to check out prospective staff alongside more traditional references, interviews and psychometric and/or aptitude testing. Employers are looking for: • Disclosure of confidential work information on a profile/blog or criticism of an employer. • Qualifications listed on a CV which are not listed on a profile. • Opinions or views expressed on a profile that would be discriminatory in the workplace. • Boasts about alcohol intake or illegal drug taking. Unfortunately, it’s not as simple as adjusting your privacy settings so only your friends can see your profile. You don’t always have control over what friends and acquaintances post. However, there are employment law risks for employers using cybervetting. For example, employers could be guilty of not processing personal data fairly under the Data Protection Act 1998 and/or breaching guidelines in the Information Commissioner’s Employment Practices Code (DPA Code). Information taken from social networking sites could lead employers into making biased decisions, risking discrimination claims on eg sexual orientation or age as networking site users tend to be younger people. If a candidate is an internal applicant, checking their networking profiles could breach the implied contract term of trust and confidence. Employers considering using cybervetting should:- • Tell all candidates that cybervetting or webchecking may form part of the process. • Reduce the scope for unlawful bias by using someone not involved in deciding which candidate should get the job to do the research. • Give candidates chance to explain discrepancies on CVs and application forms. • Only use cybervetting for high profile jobs which justify in-depth research and checking. To protect yourself from your social networking profiles hampering your employment prospects:- • Change your privacy settings so that only friends can see your full profile. • Use a sensible avatar or profile image. • Check that any qualifications, schools or courses attended listed on your profile are also listed on your CV. • Check your blog entries and consider what persona they are creating and either edit or delete entries which would not be suitable for a prospective employer to see. • Check friend requests and before accepting a request, look through their profile – is this someone you would want to be associated with? If you have been unfairly discriminated against at work, please contact Lara Scott for a free initial discussion on 0116 212 1000.