Question

Read the scenario. The things you say online can come back to haunt you. Organizations are using Google, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook to check out applicants and current employees. In fact, some organizations see Google as a way to get "around discrimination laws, inasmuch as employers can find out all manner of information-some for a nominal fee-that is legally off-limits in interviews: your age, your marital status, fraternity pranks, stuff you wrote in college, political affiliations and so forth." And for those individuals who like to rant and rave about employers, there might be later consequences. That's why one senior at the University of Massachusetts pulled his Facebook profile.

Post your answers to the following questions, with regard to the scenario

What do you think about what companies are doing?

What positives and negatives are there to such behavior?

What are the ethical implications?

What guidelines might you suggest for an organization's selection process?

Answer 1

A) This behavior of companies is a breach of private information. They are extracting personal information of candidates to get to know them more clearly which is wrong as it is done against their wishes.

B) Positives: Gives a sneak peek into employee's personal life and preferences and helps companies decode their personality traits and understand their future goals and past behavior

Negatives: Personal behaviour sometimes has no connection with professional character. It might signal out wrong information to employers for a good candidate having a poor personal record. It is also breach of privacy

C) Such a behaviour might blur out the fine line between personal and professional behavior of employees and affect their hiring.

It can lead to employers making biased choices

D) An organization can overlook their professional profiles and just a short check on social media profiles just to see how active they are socially and how strong their views are. The intent must matter more than content.