[Panthera]

I'm very political, and both myspace (witch is using a pseudonym) and articles you can come across when googling my name (I can't tell you my real name, I do trust you, but I don't trust every guest that can read this threads. My name is very uncommon in Norway, and only my first name might lead to ppl. finding out who I am) will tell ppl./employers that I'm very interested in politics and witch side I take in politics. This might lead to me missing some jobopportunities, but I won't lie about it. I will be very interested in politics also on my workplace, and hiding that would be lying about myself. Actually revealing that I am political interested might get me a job with other ppl. sharing my views.. It's always possible to dream..

[pinkgothic]

Hm.

I'm boring, according to search engines.

But that [email protected] person pisses me off, being entirely unlike me. Hey, gerroff my name. Needless to say, this isn't a serious demand at all.

[Jeysie]

Originally Posted by Stoofa

Also, it can be really hard to tell if someone is a good worker just from an interview or two so you have to use all of your resources.

See, this is the part that confuses me.

To my admittedly perpetually lower-class perspective, the mental image of a high-tier, high-competition job is one where the candidates all have things like college degrees, and extracurricular activities (you know, chess and math clubs and whatnot), and internships, and all that sort of thing. I'd think that somebody who had enough qualifications for a high-tier job would have enough related experience for an employer to look at.

I mean, for example, you'd think a druggie/boozer who would be constantly absent and work poorly would have already shown that by getting poor grades in school. But if that person has, for instance, a 4.0 GPA, then as onerous a habit as an employer might find it, it obviously won't affect their work performance.

In contrast, someone with little to no training and/or related experiences might well have that MySpace account as the only clue into possible work ethics. But then, such a person isn't likely to qualify for anything better than a "cattle-call" type of job anyway.

Admittedly, I think the reason this pushes me so strongly is because I have problems where I'm lousy at the type of skills needed to get a job (interviewing well, networking, effective cover letters, etc.). Yet in the type of jobs I want, once I finally *have* a job, the skills I do have come into play, and the job-getting skills I'm not good at have little to no relevance on my type of work whatsoever.

So to me, this feels a lot like the same concept... being barred from getting a job based on things that will have no relevance once you actually have the job. It's hard not to find it frustrating in a sympathetic sense.

Peace & Luv, Liz

[Melanie68]

It's all about appearances and regardless of where they look - how you dress for an interview, how your resume looks, what shows up on a background search - that's all they have to go on when they are weeding through dozens to hundreds of resumes. If you have two applicants that have similar resumes but you do a background search and one of them has drunk pictures of themselves posted, who would you call in for an interview?

It's business and unfortunately you have to learn to play the game. Businesses don't want their time wasted. When they invest time in an interview, they want to bring in the best looking candidates they can for that interview.

[Jeysie]

Originally Posted by Melanie68

If you have two applicants that have similar resumes but you do a background search and one of them has drunk pictures of themselves posted, who would you call in for an interview?

Er... why not both? If I had two people who seemed to have identical credentials, I'd be willing to spend the time to call in both and not take the risk of missing out on a good candidate for non-work-related reasons.

Admittedly, I'm hard-wired not to care much about "appearance". If I was hiring for a position where the person's not going to have public contact, I'd care not a whit whether the person had a crew cut and a business suit or piercings, a t-shirt, and denim shorts as long as they were aces at their work.

Originally Posted by Melanie68

It's business and unfortunately you have to learn to play the game.

Heh, yeah, tell me about it. Since I can't, I'll never get a non-crap job even though I could do one once I got it, and that frustrates me, but that's another topic.

Peace & Luv, Liz

[saucyminx]

Originally Posted by Jeysie

Er... why not both? If I had two people who seemed to have identical credentials, I'd be willing to spend the time to call in both and not take the risk of missing out on a good candidate for non-work-related reasons.

Could be because the company is pressed for time, and spending a huge amount of time interviewing just anybody would consume the productive hours.

[Jeysie]

I guess I just find it deeply ironic and frustrating that I can easily get retail jobs I suck at because the job itself requires the social skills involved in job-hunting, but the hiring process doesn't.

Yet I can't get a non-retail job I actually would be good at because the hiring process involves the job-hunting social skills I lack, but the job itself doesn't.

So... easily get lots of jobs I suck at, or constantly fail to get a job I'd be good at for reasons unrelated to the job. Yep, company hiring practices make a whole lot of sense.</sarcasm>

Anyhoo. I've had my personal revelation here, so I'm done.

Peace & Luv, Liz

[Stoofa]

Originally Posted by Jeysie

To my admittedly perpetually lower-class perspective, the mental image of a high-tier, high-competition job is one where the candidates all have things like college degrees, and extracurricular activities (you know, chess and math clubs and whatnot), and internships, and all that sort of thing. I'd think that somebody who had enough qualifications for a high-tier job would have enough related experience for an employer to look at.

That's a nice way to look at it, and how it ought to work, but people lie or stretch the truth when they apply for jobs. Also, it's nigh impossible to find someone who will give a bad reference these days, society has become so litigious that people are afraid to give bad references and will either: a) lie and give a good reference, or b) refuse to give a reference at all.

Oh, anyone with a myspace shouldn't be able to get a job anyway.

[kuze]

Originally Posted by SamNMax

Oh, anyone with a myspace shouldn't be able to get a job anyway.

Seconded and extended to today-I-fed-my-cat-blogs.

[Jatsie]

I disapprove of all this snooping.

In Kentucky you get expelled from University for revealing that you're gay on your MySpace.

http://www.gay.com/news/article.html?2006/04/10/2

[pinkgothic]

Originally Posted by kuze

Seconded and extended to today-I-fed-my-cat-blogs.

*dies laughing* Only truth can split my sides so badly!

[Intrepid Homoludens]

I didn't know you were so easily bifurcated. Next time I'll inundate you with nothing but such, that I may see the organic curiosity it entrails in you.

[kuze]

On this episode of TechNation Moira speaks with a TrustE employee about how valuable information about ourselves is, and how careless it is being shared on myspace, blogs etc... Nice, short and informative (and streamable as well as downloadable).