I Lost a Job opportunity because of Facebook

Hi guys, it's me again. I have some informative piece to share with you again today.
A couple of days ago, I was chatting with a job seeker on my facebook page, and he poured out his bitter feelings to me.

His story goes this way; A few months ago he applied for a job in a company(names withheld) and fortunately for him, he was called for an interview.He apparently performed well.But something unconventional in a Nigerian company happened. They were all asked for their their facebook profile links.
A couple of days later, he was called and told that his performance was wonderful but that they have a little problem with his lifestyle. What?!!!!! His Lifestyle?!! Yea, his lifestyle.
Apparently, these folks had checked out his facebook profile and saw some of his not-so-professional pictures. Who doesn't have some not-so-professional pics. Must all our pics be of us clad in suits?!! These employers are annoying sometimes o.
Anyways, they said he seems to be a womaniser and also looks like he is into porn! lol.

I checked out this guys profile.Lo and behold, the dude had  a normal everyday facebook profile. Believe me.He only had some pictures of him in a party,a handful taken with friends, including girls and some were even of him tagged on some not-so-pornographic pictures.I couldn't believe it!
After graduating from University of  Uyo two years ago, this is how he lost his first job opportunity.This ain't funny.

The Lesson
When you're applying for a new job, polishing up your resume or preparing well for the test/interview may not be enough anymore. Rather, you should check what information is out there about you on the web. Facebook profiles are routinely being checked by your future employers. According to a survey carried out by Careerbuilder in 2009, 45% of employers check your social media presence when hiring, and some 35% of employers reported that they have found content on social networking sites that meant they did not hire the candidate. As social media has only grown over the past few years, we can only imagine that this figure would be much higher today.

More than half of the employers questioned said that provocative photos were the biggest factor contributing to a decision not to hire a potential employee, while 44% of employers pinpointed references to drinking and drug use as no-go areas. While this might seem obvious, you can never know what a company might deem "provocative." It seems wise to keep all content absolutely clean, otherwise who knows what job prospects you are thwarting.

Unfortunately, many of us fail to realize that content we post on the Internet is really out there in the public domain. If you do want to continue using Facebook, what can you do to protect yourself from unwanted prying eyes? Be sure you've checked those privacy settings. It is sensible to keep any personal content away from the public eye. Also, be careful what you are making available to your networks. It might seem safe enough to let people who graduated from the same schools as you view your profile, but this will include several thousand – if not tens of thousands of – people who you have never met nor know, and who may have ulterior motives when checking out your profile. Keep it clean and professional. Ask yourself: would you want your future employer to read this? If the answer is no, don't post it. There's really nowhere to hide on the world wide web.

Run to facebook now and fix your privacy setting immediately. You need a job, don't you?


From a web. Recent Nigerian Jobs.