Facebook-to-Unemployment: Glamour Shots Only!

Welcome to TishTrek - THE JOB BLOG!

If you or the new college graduate in your home are looking for jobs or want to keep the jobs you already have, it's time to clean up your Social Networking Sites by making sure that all of the data, pictures and self-promotion represents "the very best" of who you really are!

You name the site: Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, Personal Web pages, Craig's List, Blogs... The Wall Street Journal warned us four years ago that prospective employers had already begun looking at what you write and post on-line as a form of assessment criteria during interviewing, hiring and investigative background processes!

Protecting a company's brand is vital to the survival of every firm, so many executives have now hired or contracted teams of on-line analysts and behavioral specialists who work with 'your' on-line information to make sure the decision to hire you ties closely to the values, goals, ethics and overall mission of their organizations.

Many companies have adopted 'behavioral interviewing techniques' because studies led by top universities including Harvard, Yale, etc., and research companies focused on human behavior in the workplace (i.e. Gartner, Lominger, Inc.) have concluded that human behavior reveals repetitive tendencies that start at very early ages which are highly likely to repeat themselves - albeit in increasingly age-appropriate actions -in the workplace on-and-off throughout our careers and in most other parts of our lives.

Many companies believe that the repeat 'behaviors' of employment candidates really matter. The assessment of a past-performance history of high-end leader behaviors and/or socially unacceptable or outrageous behaviors are being viewed as 'success factors' that need to be assessed in conjunction with the job experience, skills, credentials and competencies individuals possess in their chosen fields.

Since I'm telling you this, it means that those hilarious pictures (your definition not mine...) of you passed out drunk during your 2011 Spring Break or after that bachelorette party will go over like the lead balloons that they are in many hiring circles. Few employers will be impressed or amused.

Clearly behavior matters because the great name and past-performance history of the company you have joined is bigger than you and every new hire combined. We all become a living representative of the brand that made our company great, so as decision-makers stare at pics that would make a mother cry, it's easy to conclude that 'some extension' of the behavior you have no problem blasting out to others with lightening speed on the Internet might repeat itself making you a giant 'potential' liability for their firm.

When that happens, I can promise you that 'hiring risk mitigation' practices designed to put the welfare of the company first will prevail before anyone approves a job offer for you. Don't let this happen to you!

Have fun, but be discreet! If you were not raised to be discreet, then you need to do everything in your power to remind yourself that the fun you had at fraternity parties and on Spring Break needs to retire to your past. The actions you currently engage in with your wonderful high spirited friends during happy hours in NYC or while watching the New York Yankees or the Boston Red Sox or Snooki's antics during those Jersey Shore episodes and all the innocent shenanigans that follow should never be chronicled for all employers and the world to see if those actions don't mirror the high standards of the company that already hired you or the ones you'd die to work for in the future.

Few people enjoy life or laugh as much as I do, but please...Do not take this advice lightly! Review all of your postings today to make sure that your words and pictures are not a silent killer in your efforts to succeed in your job search and profession.

Finally, if you are currently employed, the most important advice I can offer as it relates to Social Networking is as follows:

I'm proud to be a former Director of Human Resources of ADP's Brokerage Information Services Group (Front-Office Stockbroker Workstation Biz) and I've operated as a Global Recruiting Executive to many market leaders for over two decades, so I'd like to use that platform to point to the Non-Disclosure and Confidentiality Agreements & Codes of Conduct you sign @ your companies when you are hired: Those documents 'directly' apply to what you write and post on Social Networks daily.

Trade secrets have been compromised and members of Social Networks have been reprimanded &/or terminated from many companies for well-meaning posts which accidentally (or intentionally) revealed competitive confidences and proprietary data the corporation never intended for public consumption.

In some cases, the information announced equated to an illegal act, but even the posts that merely counter the branding & marketing efforts of organizations can create issues that put your actions at odds with corporate policies. Don't let this happen to you!

It's your business to understand all the rules dedicated to Investor Protection & Market Integrity. Know your SEC* Rules (*Securities Exchange Commission)to avoid crossing over any line to Insider Trading; and never 'market' or 'promote' financial products outside the mandates dictated by FINRA.***

***FINRA is the largest independent regulator for all securities firms doing business in the United States. We oversee nearly 4,560 brokerage firms, 163,335 branch offices and 631,305 registered securities representatives. Our chief role is to protect investors by maintaining the fairness of the U.S. capital markets.

Today's advice is for you to make absolutely sure that your' on-line habits, content, pictures and ramblings are NOT the silent speed bump in your effort to land the next best job or promotion!

Good luck in your search! But I mean it: Have your fun, but be discreet.

Best regards,
TishTrek