Capital Summertime Ball 2024

[Viv]

I've just received an interesting e-mail from iVillage regarding facebook, and the fact that increasing numbers of employers are looking at social networking sites, including profiles and what other people have to say about you!!

Are you happy using facebook, or do you dislike it intensely?

[Jono]

I'm well aware people can see my Facebook, which is why I do not put things on I don't want others seeing.

[Viv]

Could your future boss be making a hiring decision based on your online profile? According to a new survey from CareerBuilder.co.uk, 27 per cent of employers in the UK said they either currently use social networking sites to research potential job candidates or plan to start

You may think that what you say and do on a social networking site is your own business but since these sites are accessible to everyone, it's not surprising that employers are also trawling through cyberspace to find background information about job applicants.

They were also looking at how the candidates portrayed themselves in a social setting and whether or not they had included information about drinking or using drugs. Any references to criminal behaviour could also count against the applicant.

Employers also use these sites to see if applicants lied about their qualifications or job titles. They were also interested in what people had to say about their previous company and fellow employees, so slagging off your boss is a no-no!

Any references to company business or confidential information are also frowned upon, as are derogatory remarks about others based on religion, gender or race.

Tony Roy, Managing Director of CareerBuilder.co.uk, said: 'Employers are not just using these sites to eliminate candidates, many are also viewing these tools as a way to get a more well-rounded view of a candidate.

'Social networking profiles can also give job seekers an edge over the competition. Candidates can use their profiles to better position themselves, network and provide additional information that cannot be found on a CV.'

www.ivillage.co.uk

[Lucinda]

Yeah, I knew about that. My profile is currently limited to friends and the Uni. of Nottingham network, after my dad told me he'd been looking at my profile on his work colleagues' Facebooks. I will probably make it so that only friends can see my profile when I start applying for jobs. I've also removed some of the more pointless drunken photo albums.

As long as you're more intelligent than an Australian chap called Kyle Doyle then it shouldn't be a problem.

[KingTutsWWH]

Everyone can potentially watch you. You do not use FB to reveal your deepest darkest secrets; that much is obvious I would've thought. Mind you I still can't work it properly and am totally cack at the games which is also obvious to anyone I know.:oops:

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/23/sickie_woo/

Edit: haha. You got there before me Lucinda.

[Lucinda]

Haha that story has done the rounds.

Anyway, the gist is, make sure you use your status to back up your excuses. I changed mine to "Lucinda has a cold and feels awful" so that I could get away with missing half of a group meeting last week and got the sympathy

[Jono]

Haha that story has done the rounds.

Anyway, the gist is, make sure you use your status to back up your excuses. I changed mine to "Lucinda has a cold and feels awful" so that I could get away with missing half of a group meeting last week and got the sympathy

Exactly! You never know who might mention what you've wrote on Facebook in seminars or whatever.

[DelDalek]

I've heard this here as well and I don't like it. But, I guess it is what it is. Facebook is okay-I think it's a riot how people that never talked to you in high school suddenly want to add you as friend (many) years later! I still prefer MySpace- it seems to allow a bit more creativity.

[Sam]

Yeah, I knew about that. My profile is currently limited to friends and the Uni. of Nottingham network, after my dad told me he'd been looking at my profile on his work colleagues' Facebooks. I will probably make it so that only friends can see my profile when I start applying for jobs. I've also removed some of the more pointless drunken photo albums.

As long as you're more intelligent than an Australian chap called Kyle Doyle then it shouldn't be a problem.

That story is fake

By default profiles are set to network/friends only so unless you change the privacy settings you'll be fine

[Lucinda]

Seems like half the UK is in the London network though. Plus, you can switch regional networks, not more than once a month or something though I think. A friend has a fake account which we've used to network surf in order to stalk people that we don't know well enough to be friends with. I can tell you that you can't register an account on Facebook using the name "Not Me".

[Guest CancerForTheCure]

A law firm I did my work experience at had Facebook as their second most popular website. Its parner seems to be on it regularly as I have him added as a friend

I'm never worried about getting caught - I don't have a part time job anymore and even when I did I was always there hungover or not. I turn up for all the seminars and tutorials, I miss some lectures but that's usually to do work. My brother and my dad's friends are on it but that doesn't really bother me as 1. my brother seems to think he has more interesting things to do in life than "telling on me" and 2. My parents know everything anyway.

[DaNNiP15]

i dont mind people look at my facebook and i am not likely to put things up there if i dont want people to see them. besides i know my boss cant use a computer let alone facebook...

[counterflow]

I've also removed some of the more pointless drunken photo albums.

Hmm, but that would leave me with hardly any photos!!

[Lucinda]

But surely there's more people watching on Twitter? I use Facebook to talk to my uni friends and because we all put our photos up there and tag each other's photos and comment on them.

I changed my profile though so only my friends can see it.

[DC]

not enough people watch me.