What to Do When A Potential Employer Asks for Your Facebook Password

What to Do When A Potential Employer Asks for Your Facebook Password
by Tony Morrison on Mashable

tony Morrison is the Vice President of Business Development at Cachinko. Find him on Talent Connection and connect with Cachinko on Facebook or Twitter.

Could you imagine a job interview during which your interviewer asks you for your Facebook password? Well folks, it’s happening and you should know what to do when it happens to you.

The reason why companies are doing this is to get better insight into who you really are. They will strategically ask you to look at Facebook with them — right there, on the spot. You would think there would be some type of HR regulation in place to prohibit this type of conduct during an interview, but currently there is not — although the state of Maryland is starting to take action in a case regarding the Facebook profiles of student athletes.

With that in mind, what about job applicants in all the other states? Maryland is the first to do anything about this (and it’s currently concerned with student protections), so how long will it take for the job applicant process to be evaluated? Will asking for social networking account passwords be prohibited? The answer is, “There is no answer.” But you do not have to give the information as a condition of employment.

Let’s go over some things you can do to protect yourself on a job interview. Don’t forget: You have the right to a personal life and your privacy!

1. Put it Eloquently

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If you are asked for your password, here are some things you can say, in an eloquent and respectful manner, to show you will stand your ground:

• “I am very careful with my personal, private online persona and do not feel comfortable giving out any passwords. But you can feel free to look at my profile as it appears to you as a company right now, if you would like.”
• “I would never participate in social media on the organization’s time and ask that the organization will respect my personal social media rights outside of work.”
• “My LinkedIn network is a great place for you to review my professional experience and see the professional connections that I have that may be of benefit to your organization.”
• “Is that something that is required to move forward with this job interview?”
If you don’t like the prospective employer’s answer to the last question (or any of the statements above), you can decide if you would not like to move forward with the interview. It is your profile and your privacy, and you have the right to protect it. So, take control and make it your decision.

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2. Evaluate the Situation

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You may feel obligated to provide your password, but is it really worth it to you to have a job where you will be watched all the time?
The answer is probably “no.” It would be extremely stressful to feel like your personal life has the potential to be picked apart by your employers at any time. It will already be enough that they will monitor you while at work in other ways.

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3. Take Steps to Protect Your Personal Life

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If you plan carefully and strategically, you can separate business and pleasure. Set up your social media profiles to be only obtainable or known by your friends and family. Here are some things you can do:
• Disable a public web search on your Facebook profile. The default setting allows search engines like Google to pick up your Facebook profile.
• Change your name and go by a nickname that only your friends and family would recognize.
• Take advantage of the new Facebook Timeline to illustrate the personal brand you want to project as a job seeker.
Once you have a job, you should be careful not to jeopardize it by putting ill-willed comments up for all to see. What you say could get you fired if it sheds a bad light on your company. You represent your company, so keep your personal social networking about you and not about work.
Now you know it is okay to take a stand and say “no” when asked for your social networking passwords. It is ultimately up to you to decide what you are comfortable with.
What would you do if your interviewer asked for your password? Let us know in the comments.

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Social Media Job Listings

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Every week we post a list of social media and web job opportunities. While we publish a huge range of job listings, we’ve selected some of the top social media job opportunities from the past two weeks to get you started. Happy hunting!
• Public Relations Associate at Fab.com in New York City
• Social Media Manager at the American Society for Clinical Psychology in Chicago
• Senior Campaign Manager at Break Media in Los Angeles
Image courtesy of iStockphoto, SchulteProductions, izusek

Piratebay vows to go underground over blocking threat

Piratebay vows to go underground over blocking threat

File sharing site The Pirate Bay has said that it will adapt rather than die as it faces legal blocks in the UK.

The Pirate Bay
On Monday the High Court ruled that the site facilitates copyright infringement.

It will decide in June whether ISPs must block UK customers from accessing the site.
In response, The Pirate Bay said it would use other methods for distributing content which would make it harder for its "enemies" to track.
The content industries, both film and music, have been taking a noticeably tougher line on pirates in recent months as they continue to lose profits because of those determined to get content free.
In November, the creative industries wrote to the UK's major ISPs asking them to block access to The Pirate Bay, following the successful closure of movie distribution site Newzbin 2.
Magnets
In response, The Pirate Bay said it would be moving to new methods of file distribution from the end of the month.
"The 29th February is the last day we offer torrents in its current form. Then it will be all magnets, which works pretty much the same," it said on its official Facebook page.
"Please understand that it's a necessary move in the saga known as The Pirate Bay. Not having torrents will be a bit cheaper for us but it will also make it hard for our common enemies to stop us."
Independent analyst Mark Mulligan explained the new method. "This means nothing in terms in legality, it is all about evasion and a more secure way of encrypting the sources of the file. Magnets send information about the file rather than its location," he said.
The Pirate Bay does not host illegal files but allows users to search and access copyrighted content including movies, games and TV shows.
Set up in 2003, the site has been subject to many legal actions. In 2009 the Swedish courts found the founders guilty of helping people circumvent copyright controls although the site continued to function.
Search engines
New distribution technologies will have little effect if the court decides that ISPs must block access to the site, although that in turn will not mean an end to piracy.
"The Pirate Bay may have outlived its piracy lifespan but is a small task to mirror the site or to copy the indices. Even if The Pirate Bay is closed down people will just have to type 'torrent' into Google to find page after page of links," said Mr Mulligan.
He believes that the content industries are likely to turn their attention to search engines in their ongoing battle to cut down on pirated content online. UK rights holders have already called for illegal content to be "forcibly demoted" in web searches.
"If the content industries get Google on board the problem disappears from the mainstream overnight," he said.
The UK government has signalled its intention to look again at how it can stop search engines linking to pirated content in its new Communications Act. The US is also planning similar legislation in its controversial Stop Online Piracy Act.
Political point
Blocks, even at search engine level, are unlikely to deter the hardcore users of sites such as The Pirate Bay, which is becoming more politicised.
The site has already spawned political parties in Sweden and the UK and maintains a loyal fanbase who seem more than prepared to go the extra mile in order to carry on getting content for free.
For many, doing so is seen as an act of defiance against what they regard as state-led attempts to censor free content.
Meanwhile the authorities continue to tighten the net on piracy.
Last week the UK's Serious Organised Crime Agency shut down music site RnBXclusive while officials in the US recently closed down Megaupload, one of the net's largest file-sharing sites.



Source: BBC