This morning I read an article about what has to be one of the all time dumb mistakes made by a [new] employee so it was no surprise to me that her actions got her fired. When employees or job-hunters post silly things on the net, it should be clear by now that doing so is at your own peril. Like your personal reputation & your credit score, increasingly today you also have to preserve your online profile [to the extent that you can; sometimes there are things posted about you that are beyond your control].
Cisco Fatty & Her Big Bucks
Let's use the now infamous case of Cisco Fatty as an example. Who? Cisco Fatty is a real person who has a real name [which I have elected not to reveal here] but she got it because after getting hired by Cisco, she sent out the following 'tweet:'
"...Cisco just offered me a job! Now I have to weigh the utility of a fatty paycheck against the daily commute to San Jose and hating the work..."
That's the kind of dialogue that you have privately with family & friends not something you share with 5000 of your nearest & dearest online or anyone who can Google. Upon reading these very public "pearls of wisdom" someone at Cisco got hold of the hiring manager & in a New York minute Cisco Fatty was kicked to the curb.
The 'Facebook Faux Pas' Meets the 'Tweet'
Apparently now you can be fired faster using Twitter than if you make a Facebook faux pas, which has gotten more than a few people separated from their jobs as well. An expert on social networking maintains that as we all get increasingly more comfortable with social networking soon this will be a mere blip on the radar screen but I disagree. Quite aside from the fact that no company will look kindly on negative PR no matter the reason, source, or intent, professionally thoughtless "tweets" or Facebook entries reflect something far more significant. They tell the employer that the author lacks loyalty, discretion, &/or judgment. That kind of assessment has nothing to do with comfort with the internet & its tools. To the contrary; the reason why people get "caught in the act" is precisely because these days, the boss is online too.
Separate the Public from the Private
Remember, separate what can be public from what needs to be private [read: unwritten] & remember the internet axiom: never write [or show] anything online that you wouldn't show to your mother.
Note: This post has been updated in order to correct the pronouns which were incorrect. My apologies for any inconvenience this may have caused.