Anonymous
09/16/2025 16:03
Subject: Yuk. My younger co worker insists on social media stalking all of our candidates even though I advise her not to
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:
Adults need to understand that their publicly available data WILL be found by nosy people. And employers WILL be nosy, so they can find the best fit candidate.
I'm not on social media, and I was told by my friend's husband that he would never hire someone without a social media presence. What a little jerk. I suppose I'm lucky to be able to live my life as I want, and not be forced to present a fake online persona just for someone's gratification and hiring needs!
Yes, yes, yes, we are all aware of that at this stage. People can find your social media. Got it.
The point is there was really no reason to stalk this woman’s social media - she isn’t a candidate for any role that it really matters, and again anything substantive would have been found in a background check.
But now since my co worker found her dammed baby registry, we know.
Doesn’t it matter for every role, how the person presents their public info? A background check is not going to find everything “substantive.” And why can people not know she’s pregnant? Like you can take that fact, set it aside and myob right? I don’t get why you’re so hung up on it. What problems does it cause?
No, I have found over the years that it really doesn’t matter all that much what people post. As example, I don’t need to know (and would prefer not to!) that our regulatory guy plays D and D on weekends or that he is into the renaissance festival scene.
He has all the qualifications he needs, his background is clean, his job history was great, his references were good and that’s that.
And no, info like PG status is very hard for people to set aside when hiring for certain roles. Of course we will all have to try to now, but now I have to worry about someone slipping up somewhere
Anonymous
09/16/2025 15:58
Subject: Re:Yuk. My younger co worker insists on social media stalking all of our candidates even though I advise her not to
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Okay well, you might have found out that your candidate was pregnant by looking at her, and your moral and legal responsibilities remain the same.
You can't make hiring decisions based on the pregnancy. You can't ask her about it. I don't see how looking up the registry is a violation of anything, tbh, and googling candidates seems like a good idea to me? But anyway. It makes no difference whether you found out this way or because she teetered in or because she told you.
We probably wouldn’t have known. She was interviewing remotely.
As I mentioned, I am aware it’s not a violation to google someone or look at their social media, but as someone who has interviewed dozens and dozens of candidates over many years, I’ve realized it’s just a rather high school thing to do unless there is a specific reason (like they’re in a more brand/front facing role etc)… and it just leads to finding out silly info that the other employees then gossip about, or in this case, something we didn’t need to know but now that people know, they know. It’s not illegal, but it’s caused an annoying wrinkle we didn’t need all because this employee wanted to have fun stalking someone’s personal life.
My suggestion is to channel the energies of your young employee. Have her responsible for basic candidate research. Make her develop a policy and process that can be repeated fairly. Require her to cite some sources on inclusive and fair hiring practices. Etc.
Good idea.
Anonymous
09/16/2025 15:57
Subject: Yuk. My younger co worker insists on social media stalking all of our candidates even though I advise her not to
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:
Adults need to understand that their publicly available data WILL be found by nosy people. And employers WILL be nosy, so they can find the best fit candidate.
I'm not on social media, and I was told by my friend's husband that he would never hire someone without a social media presence. What a little jerk. I suppose I'm lucky to be able to live my life as I want, and not be forced to present a fake online persona just for someone's gratification and hiring needs!
Yes, yes, yes, we are all aware of that at this stage. People can find your social media. Got it.
The point is there was really no reason to stalk this woman’s social media - she isn’t a candidate for any role that it really matters, and again anything substantive would have been found in a background check.
But now since my co worker found her dammed baby registry, we know.
Doesn’t it matter for every role, how the person presents their public info? A background check is not going to find everything “substantive.” And why can people not know she’s pregnant? Like you can take that fact, set it aside and myob right? I don’t get why you’re so hung up on it. What problems does it cause?
Anonymous
09/16/2025 15:56
Subject: Yuk. My younger co worker insists on social media stalking all of our candidates even though I advise her not to
Anonymous wrote:I do google candidates and I look for a FB, Twitter, or Instagram account. Their Internet presence could save you a big mistake. I have found people that have been in jail and didn't disclose it, terrible dispositions, gang members, etc. In fact, our agency recommends to do an internet search. I wouldn't be obsessive but I do check the top couple of candidates.
Someone who was a legit candidate posted on instagram that they’d been in jail? And that they were a gang member? What sorts of jobs are you hiring for exactly?
We are in an industry where things like that would not be possible for them to have the credentials they need to apply or even get through a screen. There is zero chance of it.
Anonymous
09/16/2025 15:55
Subject: Re:Yuk. My younger co worker insists on social media stalking all of our candidates even though I advise her not to
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Okay well, you might have found out that your candidate was pregnant by looking at her, and your moral and legal responsibilities remain the same.
You can't make hiring decisions based on the pregnancy. You can't ask her about it. I don't see how looking up the registry is a violation of anything, tbh, and googling candidates seems like a good idea to me? But anyway. It makes no difference whether you found out this way or because she teetered in or because she told you.
We probably wouldn’t have known. She was interviewing remotely.
As I mentioned, I am aware it’s not a violation to google someone or look at their social media, but as someone who has interviewed dozens and dozens of candidates over many years, I’ve realized it’s just a rather high school thing to do unless there is a specific reason (like they’re in a more brand/front facing role etc)… and it just leads to finding out silly info that the other employees then gossip about, or in this case, something we didn’t need to know but now that people know, they know. It’s not illegal, but it’s caused an annoying wrinkle we didn’t need all because this employee wanted to have fun stalking someone’s personal life.
My suggestion is to channel the energies of your young employee. Have her responsible for basic candidate research. Make her develop a policy and process that can be repeated fairly. Require her to cite some sources on inclusive and fair hiring practices. Etc.
Anonymous
09/16/2025 15:53
Subject: Yuk. My younger co worker insists on social media stalking all of our candidates even though I advise her not to
Anonymous wrote:
Adults need to understand that their publicly available data WILL be found by nosy people. And employers WILL be nosy, so they can find the best fit candidate.
I'm not on social media, and I was told by my friend's husband that he would never hire someone without a social media presence. What a little jerk. I suppose I'm lucky to be able to live my life as I want, and not be forced to present a fake online persona just for someone's gratification and hiring needs!
Yes, yes, yes, we are all aware of that at this stage. People can find your social media. Got it.
The point is there was really no reason to stalk this woman’s social media - she isn’t a candidate for any role that it really matters, and again anything substantive would have been found in a background check.
But now since my co worker found her dammed baby registry, we know.
Anonymous
09/16/2025 15:53
Subject: Yuk. My younger co worker insists on social media stalking all of our candidates even though I advise her not to
I do google candidates and I look for a FB, Twitter, or Instagram account. Their Internet presence could save you a big mistake. I have found people that have been in jail and didn't disclose it, terrible dispositions, gang members, etc. In fact, our agency recommends to do an internet search. I wouldn't be obsessive but I do check the top couple of candidates.
Anonymous
09/16/2025 15:43
Subject: Yuk. My younger co worker insists on social media stalking all of our candidates even though I advise her not to
Anonymous wrote:We routinely Google our candidates. Do I care about their personal lives? Not at all. But I need to know they have the common sense and judgment to control their online presence. For example, we work with government customers; I would be very wary of a candidates with a ton of visible and inflammatory political opinions (regardless what side they are on). Especially since a customer could easily find it and attribute it to my company and our brand.
Yeah, it almost seems negligent NOT to at least to a basic Google search. I assume most people would do that before giving a formal offer. Even if they're not public facing, what people post online shows a lot about their judgement.
Anonymous
09/16/2025 15:39
Subject: Yuk. My younger co worker insists on social media stalking all of our candidates even though I advise her not to
How do you even know it’s the right person?
Anonymous
09/16/2025 15:34
Subject: Yuk. My younger co worker insists on social media stalking all of our candidates even though I advise her not to
We routinely Google our candidates. Do I care about their personal lives? Not at all. But I need to know they have the common sense and judgment to control their online presence. For example, we work with government customers; I would be very wary of a candidates with a ton of visible and inflammatory political opinions (regardless what side they are on). Especially since a customer could easily find it and attribute it to my company and our brand.
Anonymous
09/16/2025 15:33
Subject: Yuk. My younger co worker insists on social media stalking all of our candidates even though I advise her not to
Adults need to understand that their publicly available data WILL be found by nosy people. And employers WILL be nosy, so they can find the best fit candidate.
I'm not on social media, and I was told by my friend's husband that he would never hire someone without a social media presence. What a little jerk. I suppose I'm lucky to be able to live my life as I want, and not be forced to present a fake online persona just for someone's gratification and hiring needs!
Anonymous
09/16/2025 15:31
Subject: Re:Yuk. My younger co worker insists on social media stalking all of our candidates even though I advise her not to
Anonymous wrote:Okay well, you might have found out that your candidate was pregnant by looking at her, and your moral and legal responsibilities remain the same.
You can't make hiring decisions based on the pregnancy. You can't ask her about it. I don't see how looking up the registry is a violation of anything, tbh, and googling candidates seems like a good idea to me? But anyway. It makes no difference whether you found out this way or because she teetered in or because she told you.
Not OP but it is better not to know that way you make your decisions only based upon permissible criteria. Does knowing this extraneous information create a bias in any of the people interviewing them? Maybe, it would be terrible if it came out later than someone created a record in a Slack message that they don't want to hire a candidate due to a prohibited reason (age/race/religion, etc.).
Anonymous
09/16/2025 15:22
Subject: Re:Yuk. My younger co worker insists on social media stalking all of our candidates even though I advise her not to
Anonymous wrote:Okay well, you might have found out that your candidate was pregnant by looking at her, and your moral and legal responsibilities remain the same.
You can't make hiring decisions based on the pregnancy. You can't ask her about it. I don't see how looking up the registry is a violation of anything, tbh, and googling candidates seems like a good idea to me? But anyway. It makes no difference whether you found out this way or because she teetered in or because she told you.
We probably wouldn’t have known. She was interviewing remotely.
As I mentioned, I am aware it’s not a violation to google someone or look at their social media, but as someone who has interviewed dozens and dozens of candidates over many years, I’ve realized it’s just a rather high school thing to do unless there is a specific reason (like they’re in a more brand/front facing role etc)… and it just leads to finding out silly info that the other employees then gossip about, or in this case, something we didn’t need to know but now that people know, they know. It’s not illegal, but it’s caused an annoying wrinkle we didn’t need all because this employee wanted to have fun stalking someone’s personal life.
Anonymous
09/16/2025 15:12
Subject: Re:Yuk. My younger co worker insists on social media stalking all of our candidates even though I advise her not to
Okay well, you might have found out that your candidate was pregnant by looking at her, and your moral and legal responsibilities remain the same.
You can't make hiring decisions based on the pregnancy. You can't ask her about it. I don't see how looking up the registry is a violation of anything, tbh, and googling candidates seems like a good idea to me? But anyway. It makes no difference whether you found out this way or because she teetered in or because she told you.
You can't make hiring decisions based on the pregnancy. You can't ask her about it. I don't see how looking up the registry is a violation of anything, tbh, and googling candidates seems like a good idea to me? But anyway. It makes no difference whether you found out this way or because she teetered in or because she told you.
Anonymous
09/16/2025 15:09
Subject: Yuk. My younger co worker insists on social media stalking all of our candidates even though I advise her not to
We don’t have public facing roles and I personally find it invasive and for no good reason. I know it’s public blah blah blah, but I just don’t see that any good comes of it. Our standard background check will bring up anything substantive we need to know. The rest ends up just being idle gossip.
And this time I was correct.. we found a candidate is pregnant. My co worker found her registry online. I really wish I hadn’t known
And this time I was correct.. we found a candidate is pregnant. My co worker found her registry online. I really wish I hadn’t known