» Is the Web Helping Your Employment Prospects?

The internet is a great tool when it comes to researching job opportunities, and finding out more about industries and companies you might want to work for. It’s also great for advice on all parts of the recruitment process.

But never forget it’s a double edged sword.

While you’re using the web to research your career development, you current, or prospective future employer is using it to research you.

I used to be employed by an organization that worked directly with young people, and operated alongside several other government and privately funded services. It was part of our code of behavior that we shouldn’t undertake any activity that might be contrary to the aims of our organization, and that we should promote and support the aims of our employer in our dealings with others. No different to any responsible company.

And what employees don’t always realize is that this isn’t an expectation that stops when you walk out the door at the end of the working day.

In some cases there can be a personal dilemma in this. When you’re out for the evening and you encounter someone you don’t know making negative comments about your employer, should you jump into their conversation to challenge their comments, or keep quiet?

In other cases it’s much clearer. Employees who make derogatory statements about their employers or customers on social networking sites shouldn’t be so surprised when there’s some sort of comeback. Surely they realize that once it’s committed to the ‘paper’ of the web, it’s there for eternity, unless they remove it again. And given the nature of the web, you just don’t know who is going to be able to read your spur of the moment ’sound off’.

Google engineer Jon Perlow has developed a system to help GMail users avoid sending those unwise emails at night or weekends, when they might be the worse for alcohol. They have to answer simple math problems before their message can be sent. A definite benefit for anyone who decides to get back at their boss after a bad day.

When you’re being paid to work, then that’s what you should be doing, not social networking or browsing the web. My employer wasn’t unusual in regularly tracking email and internet activity. They found a few cases where email buddies were spending literally hours of each working week communicating with one another, and usually not about anything to do with their work. Not surprisingly, the company was unhappy to continue paying these people.

And while the company were willing to provide free internet access for personal use, this was restricted to times outside normal working hours. Even then, certain sites were barred.

And there are more proactive ways that employers are checking on their staff these days.

There’s always someone around to take a picture when you’re at your worst, acting the fool or whatever. And yes, they are funny, but your employer may not be quite as amused as your friends. If your workmates are discussing your latest posts there’s a good chance these days that your boss will get to see them somehow. It could mean your job if they feel you’ve brought yourself, or your employer, into disrepute. And if you’re applying for jobs it could make your prospective employer consider you a liability.

A recent survey by Viadeo, a business social network, reported that 20% of UK employers had found information about prospective employees from an internet search, and almost 60% of these employers said what they found influenced their recruitment decisions. In some cases they rejected candidates based on this information. These numbers may be small, but you can be sure they will grow.

Think before you click

Image courtesy of http://www.wpclipart.com

Don’t wait till it’s too late. Clean your act up now. If you know you’ve got posts that don’t show you in your best light, do something about it. But don’t stop there — search for yourself and see what results you get. Are you happy they’re positive PR for you?