Facebook and Job Seeking

When I first began writing for The Mooring Mast during my junior year at PLU, I wrote an article about the importance of maintaining a professional and mature demeanor on Facebook, as job recruiters often like to peruse candidates' profiles (my story can be read by clicking the Mast link up there, and clicking through the pages to the third spread). Apparently, this has reached a whole new level - one that is entirely inappropriate and is violating privacy. According to this news story, some employers are now asking for applicants' log in information, so they may peruse profiles that are fully utilizing Facebook's privacy settings.

This is very disturbing and unsettling; I looked up the Facebook User Policy, and under section four, point eight, I found this (as expected):
You will not share your password, (or in the case of developers, your secret key), let anyone else access your account, or do anything else that might jeopardize the security of your account.


So I propose the following advice to any job seeker who may run into this particular situation: if you don't need or want the job very strongly, politely decline and leave the interview. A company that thinks this behavior is remotely appropriate has questionable ethics at best.

However, if you do want the job, or if you believe you truly need the job, then politely inform the interviewer that sharing your log in information would be a breach of Facebook's User Policy. I would tell the interviewer that I am more than happy to add them as my friend if they wish to access my profile; for people concerned about a few private posts, you can create lists within Facebook and determine who, specifically, gets to see what you post. While I have never felt the need to utilize these measures (I like to keep my Facebook as benign and appropriate as possible, for all members of my friends list), I always suggest the implementation of them for people who find it appropriate. Additionally, I would point my interviewer to my professional LinkedIn profile and my Google+ profile, pointing out that the same information is contained in each place.

Hopefully, precedent will be set making it illegal for job interviewers to ask for private and personal information such as your log in information. Until then, it's probably best to steer clear from such inappropriate practices. Big Brother doesn't need to watch you this closely.