Reginald Braithwaite on Employer Access to Facebook  

Reginald Braithwaite files a faux resignation letter due to new policies that force him to ask potential hires for access to their Facebook profiles.

I have been interviewing senior hires for the crucial tech lead position on the Fizz Buzz team, and while several walked out in a huff when I asked them to let me look at their Facebook, one young lady smiled and said I could help myself. She logged into her Facebook as I requested, and as I followed the COO’s instructions to scan her timeline and friends list looking for evidence of moral turpitude, I became aware she was writing something on her iPad.

“Taking notes?” I asked politely.

“No,” she smiled, “Emailing a human rights lawyer I know.” To say that the tension in the room could be cut with a knife would be understatement of the highest order. “Oh?” I asked. I waited, and as I am an expert in out-waiting people, she eventually cracked and explained herself.

The scenario that follows gave me chills, both as someone who has been responsible for managing subordinates and been a part of the hiring process.

I think that we’re nearing a point at which this will become a huge issue. In a couple of years either accessing a potential (or existing) employee’s social networking profile will be an accepted standard or it will be outlawed.

It will probably take a major legal case to get there.