A World of Shady and Smooth Operators

I have been reading recently about how Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and blogs could together make or break your career. Recruiters and HR managers check out your web profile before deciding whether to give you a job. And if they find anything that is 'objectionable' in their view, you don't get the job! Think of those who are in jobs already and never had a Facebook profile because Facebook was not even launched at the time they were looking for jobs. All that recruiters could check on those days were the references. What used to be personal before and what we still consider personal and post online, are now deciding our job prospects. The shady and savvy operators gain in this environment while the outgoing, natural folks who speak their minds lose out big time. A world full of workers who artificially create their persona online for a career is not going to be great for certain. It will be a world of deceit than something that is open and transparent.

The other thing that bugs me no end is the fact that if someone loses their job and defaults on their mortgage payments, their chance of landing a job goes down because their credit history can get in the way of a job. Isn't this a paradox as well? It should have been the other way round - meaning someone who is skilled and interviewed well should stand the same or better chance of getting the job if he/ she has a spotty credit history since they lost their last jobs. They deserve a job for certain.

When recruiting folks for my businesses, I will not give a damn to how a person's web profile looks as long as she is fit to do the job, because some things that are personal still remain personal though you post them online and will never be the deciding factor when I recruit a candidate. I would value an open and outspoken person any day than a deceitful smooth operator who posts the right things on Facebook, Tweets only PC stuff and manages to get the most number of recommendations on LinkedIn. And, if you have defaulted on some mortgage payments, you will get brownie points when I recruit!

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