Facebook gives employers a look into applicants’ lives

When it comes to Facebook and other social networking websites, grandmothers and potential employers have similar values.

"If your grandmother wouldn't like to see that on your account, your employer wouldn't either," said Wil Jones, special assistant to the director for public relations at the University Career Center.

According to Jones, about 44 percent of employers use social networking websites, such as Facebook, to screen prospective employees.

This means students who are seeking employment need to be careful about their online image, Jones added.

"Facebook has changed," Career Center Assistant Director Linda LeNoir said. " It is becoming a place for people to connect to people on there who may one day be your coworkers."

But this isn't new to students.

"When you create an account, you're putting yourself out there," said Susie Huang, a senior communications major.

The key, Huang added, is to maintain privacy and discretion when constructing profiles on social networks.

"I don't let anyone see my pictures, and I keep obscene stuff out of it," she added.

Other students, according to Jones, are not as careful.

"We ask a student if we can look at their account [during career information sessions]," he said. "If they are squeamish, that says a lot."

Privacy settings can prevent some problems, but they are not foolproof. Some government agencies are able to look at all profiles, even private ones. Also, Jones said that a company will often ask other students to conduct reconnaissance on potential employees' profile pages.

"Employers are becoming younger and bringing with them the technologies that they used as students," LeNoir said. "They are aware of what is out there."

Another thing to be careful with is finding jobs online through websites like Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace. 

"There are a lot of scams out there. See what types of e-mails are on the company page," Jones said. "If they are Gmail or Yahoo, rather than a company account, you should be careful."

LeNoir recommends using Linkedin, which she said is the safest. "Linkedin is the fastest growing network," she said. "It was developed as a professional network. That's the one students have a good opportunity to use."

ga@umdbk.com