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.

Mommy Blogs!!!!1111 LOL OMG

I plan to update at some point about Saint Patrick's Day in Savannah, which was a bit crazy (or cray-cray, as I was teaching a Taiwanese girl in my class to say), but first, I bring you this:

I've been following this inspirational, really amazing blog called Eli's Mom Blog. Eli also runs It Just Gets Stranger, home of the wrong-number-texts blog post that I shared on Facebook a while back that had me laughing until my sides exploded. Anyway, Eli told his wrong-number-texter that he kept a mom blog...and when she believed him, he actually created it. So now there's Eli's Mom Blog, which is about a fake-mommy-man (the man isn't fake, he's just a fake mommy) and his fabulous inspirational children with names like Fortify, Casper, and Opaque.

Eli hosts these SUPER AMAZING CUTE craft contests, and invites the other mommies (presumably all fake, but who knows?) to contribute their own creations. This week's contest was dream catchers, and so I entered. As a fake-mommy, my children include Roger (female, pronounced Roh-jay) and Roger (male, pronounced Rogue-er). We were all just SO EXCITED to participate in Eli's craft contest. Here is my submission. I really hope I win! Fingers crossed everyone!

Wow Eli, you are such an inspirational mom!

I saw your latest craft contest, and I had PROMISED my children that I would compete next time, and so naturally I woke them both up RIGHT AWAY. My daughter Roger (pronounced Roh-jay, obviously, but so many people have trouble grasping that) and my son Roger (Rogue-er, CLEARLY) were so excited!! They plan to make these themselves tomorrow. But in the meantime, here is MY submission. My daughter Roger thoughtfully came up with the title for the submission: Domesticated Dreams. It includes some fun beads from Roger's latest birthday party, her pageant lipstick (it's an ADORABLE shade of sparkly pink!), a can opener (even though I only serve my children FRESH fruits and vegetables, we do like to keep cans on hand for feeding the hungry in our neighborhood, because it just BREAKS MY HEART to see people who just are not as BLESSED and FORTUNATE as I AM!), and of course Roger's ABSOLUTE FAVORITE HAIR BOW. Her brother Roger was so happy to see such a wonderful representation of the fabulous women in our family. I am just so proud of my AMAZING CHILDREN. They really look up to your Fortify, after all. We ALL hope that some day they can meet such an inspirational young lady!!! 


Hope all is well with your family,
Sarah

If you're still looking for entertainment, Eli also posted an entry with his wetsuit lounging about the house; I also died laughing. In fact, just peruse his blog, because it's quite entertaining. He names his inanimate objects, too.

Blog Background

I need input, folks. Which picture should I use for the background of my newly revamped blog? 1) Paris stairs (currently in use), 2) Rome, or 3) The Seine at night? Leave your input in the comments, on my facebook, or go to my profile and send me an email. I'm incapable of making decisions.

I Spend Too Much Time Online

I recently discovered HelloGiggles, and was terribly excited at the idea of it. I've since liked it on Facebook, along with Zooey Deschanel, and so I regularly see links to articles on the site. I have to say I'm terribly disappointed, and I often disagree with the views put forth...especially from a site representing itself as an intelligent and empowering resource for women.

She Ra: is she really a strong role model?

The first article that irked me was in regards to the 80s tv show She Ra. It was talking about what a great role model She Ra was to young girls, and how strong and empowered the character was. Admittedly, I was a bit young to have watched the show. But I did see an episode of it a few months ago on Retro TV, which I watched with my mom. We were scoffing at the entire thing. It is enjoyable that every man in the He Man/She Ra universe wears tights and tunics...they're admittedly not the most masculine characters, which I suppose can be viewed as a plus by femminazis. But demasculating men isn't necessary to make strong female characters.

The offending thing to me about She Ra is that her alter ego is a whimpy, stereotypically feminine character who needs men to save her. When she becomes She Ra, her voice gets deeper (like a man, I guess), and she becomes the hero who actually saves the men. That's pretty cool. But here's what I hated about the episode I watched, and that my mom and I so relentlessly made fun of: She Ra's alter ego was locked in prison, waiting for the men to save her. She became She Ra, broke out of the prison, saved a bunch of men on a pirate ship, impressed them, delivered them to safety and then...returned to prison so that the male hero could come save her. When he did rescue her, she winked at the camera and the audience implying "hehe, aren't I clever, letting the silly man think that he's my hero." But here's my issue: why does an empowered woman need to let men think she's just a weak little thing in need of his saving? What kind of message is that to send to young girls?!

The Simpsons

My latest complaint, which prompts this blog entry, is this article on The Simpsons. In this article, the author (who hails from somewhere in the Pacific Northwest and appears to be just a smidgen older than me...I stalked her blog for details) manages to perpetuate negative stereotypes...including some personal ones. Matt Groening, The Simpsons creator, of course hails from the good old Pacific Northwest himself, a fact I always delight in, as it proves that we are clearly superior to everyone else. Who wouldn't want to be a PNWer? So this author (her name is Jessica, by the way, for future reference) stereotypes the Pacific Northwest in a way which she agrees with and it irks me...because we aren't all like that, thank you very much.

First off, Chief Wiggum is not an example of why we should all hate police. While completely inept, at times corrupt and always a bumbling idiot, he's not a bad guy. I find him to be a very enjoyable character. Nobody in the town hates the man. So how on earth is this teaching people to hate the police? At most, it's poking fun at the fact that authority figures are human too and we should question authority figures prior to following them, instead of blindly following them no matter what. This point in Jessica's article followed the lesson that "vegetarians are smarter", based on the fact that Lisa is often the voice of reason in the Simpson family. She was compared to Homer in the argument. But what about Marge, who eats meat but while soft-spoken is very intuitive and observant?

Then there comes the religion argument. Of course Groening pokes fun at organized religion, and the sillier things the various fanatics like the spout. But Jessica seems to take away from this that all religion, and all aspects of it, are silly, and that Christianity deserves the biggest hit, as if it is the silliest belief. She then wraps up the article explaining how Groening is a liberal Pacific Northwesterner himself (getting the name of his alma mater wrong as she does so), and lumps all of us together to be atheists. Thanks for perpetuating a stupid stereotype, Jessica. Groening himself identifies as agnostic - an important distinction from atheist, as it means that Groening's belief system allows for the possibility that a God (or gods) exist. And while I have heard statements that the PNW has far less religious people but plenty of spiritual people, to lump all of us in as atheists is annoying. On the contrary, due to the liberal attitudes of our culture, religious and spiritual people alike tend to be far more open-minded. We can see and appreciate the humor in The Simpsons without coming away from the show thinking "gee, my beliefs are stupid, I'd better re-evaluate." If anything, when I see social commentaries on Christianity, I tend to agree. It really just strengthens my beliefs. You don't need to be a Bible-thumping, right-wing eccentric to be Christian.

I guess I shouldn't be too surprised that I don't see eye to eye with Jessica...on her blog, she has a letter to her future husband, and then lists men she likes. Number one is Chandler Bing/Matthew Perry, who I can't for the life of me take seriously...primarily because I will perpetually see Matthew Perry as Chandler Bing and frankly, I find that embarrassing (sorry, not a fan of Friends). The only person more embarrassing than that is David Schwimmer/Ross...but at least when Schwimmer voiced the hypochondriac giraffe in Madagascar, I was able to put aside the Ross association for a while. She does go on to list Steve Martin second, who is of course brilliant and any woman who wouldn't want a man like him (who isn't lesbian) is clearly not in her right mind and probably isn't fit to procreate. And yes, my feelings are that strong. Additionally, Michael J. Fox belongs far higher on that list, and where on earth are Robert Downey Jr. and Johnny Depp?!

I'm disappointed that the articles I keep reading on HelloGiggles keep missing the mark, but it does provide me with fuel for my own blog. Of course, the primary difference is that nobody is reading my rants, and thousands of people are gobbling up HelloGiggles. Hm. That says a lot right there, I suppose.

For Entertainment Purposes

Becky's been making fun of me as of late, and has tagged me in this picture on Facebook. So enjoy this image, which will hopefully hold you over while I finish up this last week of classes and then relax and destress over spring break.