You now have to put your life online to get a job.

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I am hating life more and more when I see how ridiculous work places are getting in order to get a job. So now I have to join a bunch of websites and post more and participate more on websites if I am looking for a job.


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/susan-p-j ... mg00000063

Yes, it is pretty stupid.

Echoing what someone wrote in their comment, I would not want to work for someone who stalks you. But here is a problem, the majority of places do this so that would mean I am out of luck and congratulations, I have just made getting a job harder for myself and I wonder why I have troubles finding a job? It may not be disability related at all.

League_Girl, metaphorically you are starting to see the matrix for what it truthfully is. Welcome to my world.

http://whyifailedinamerica.wordpress.com/

I second the person who said that, echoing one of the comments to the article, I too would not want to work for someone who places this much importance on whether I have an abundant online presence for the world to see.

Personally, I'm a very private person and I already consider it pretty appalling that, more and more, we are all being expected to have our real lives, real names and real and selves "out there". Even Google and its associated YouTube are now more or less forcing people to use their real names and emails, and if they choose not switch, then their ability to use either site's amenities are curtailed, such as posting comments. That was a dick move.

Particularly in the case of girls and women, it's actually highly advisable to not have your real, full name everywhere online. There really are some sick, bored and obsessive people who will use that information for no good. Women who are private citizens -- thus without the security backup often afforded to celebrity females -- are less safe for having full profiles with real names on the net. I get that Linked In is a useful resource in the world of employment. But there are sinister uses these days for this kind of nakedness too.

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The part of having to search yourself online kind of bugs me. I will admit, I could never be found because my first and last name are very common and I share the same full-name as a politician in my area. Me not being found online means I chose not to expose myself online and that I don't use social networking sites. It's pretty simple. Employers who make people go through all that work aren't worth working for anyways. Would they prefer me to put up stupid pictures or videos of myself or me saying something stupid on a website with my first and last name intact? It's not gonna happen. If employers want to find me, they can do it the normal way by paying a company to do a background check for them. I have no problem with that.

Oh, my beautiful Internet, what are human beings doing to you...

He works in education. You have no net presence, you haven't a shot.

It's a short cut for interviewing. I don't agree, but that's how it rolls right now.

So basically, if you're not a social butterfly who "manages your image" as if you were Angelina Jolie, you haven't a prayer of finding a job. Wanna bet that HR departments are filled with uber-liberal ditzy young women who want other uber-liberal ditzy young women to work for them and brown nose (blah blah, uber-liberal...yes, you get it) who are their superiors all day long. You can't leave work at the workplace, either, you have to brown nose your boss on your off time on Facebook etc and always be on call. If you are a private person, or are not the target demographic (but I repeat myself), you are spit out. Not a narcissist who has the gift of gab? Tough s**t, flip burgers. And we call this "normal"? We have third graders being "groomed" like nobles of old for the "right" high school, college, career, and a life of material abundance and empty souls who fill their emptiness with liquor and designer drugs. But hey, they're like all their friends. More and more I see benefit to living in the woods as a hermit. This "society" stinks.

I wonder what happened to doing it the old fashioned way? Doing background checks, paying companies to do it, calling their previous employers and asking about them, calling their references, cover letters, recommendations? I think companies have gotten cheap so doing a search on your name through google saves money. From my experience of applying for work, you always had to put down your social security number so they could use it for background checks. Now they want to know your personal life and pretty soon they will want to go to your home and see how you live and what you wear and check everything in your home to see what food you eat or what shows you watch or what entertainment you have. Already some companies already check your car, want to see your facebook page and are required to let them log in to see it, what will be next?

Now adding:

What is happening here? Now the internet is becoming a necessity and people who are not into online and don't do online stuff are screwed. I don't Skype or Twitter or do other networking sites, I don't text or have internet on my phone so I don't even put stuff on facebook from my mobile phone. I don't have an ipod or an ipad or even use itunes. Yes I am old fashioned and behind in technology.

My mom doesn't do internet either and has no interest in Facebook or nothing and she still managed to land a job here in Oregon from Montana when she moved. Maybe her work place here is in the 20% who doesn't do google search and requiring people to have an internet life and put their lives online. Or maybe her being a nurse has something to do with it since there is a nurse shortage so places always need nurses. My dad runs his own business and he doesn't do lot of facebook and doesn't do other websites nor internet except for his work so he isn't out of luck either.

For some reason this feels like 1984. George Orwell had predicted it except it didn't happen as soon.

It's exactly like 1984 but more subtle and covert.

Aw, give it a rest. It's not that bad. Just put your resume on LinkedIn and forget about the rest.
It's not Orwell. It's just the internet.

Therein lies the problem right there. It's like League_Girl said. Are they going to want to come to our home next?

There is a class of people who I call unwired who can't easily get access to the internet. What about them?

When does enough become enough? It is similar to the attitude of as long as you're doing nothing wrong I have nothing to worry about.

When do we quit submitting to their arbitrary and capricious demands? It seems like whenever I read the user comments on various forums and blogs people are unhappy with the way things are. Yet, no one wants to do anything about it.

League_Girl is right.

While I'm no fan about putting your life online, I don't think the article is saying you MUST do that.

The Internet can help you or hurt you. There is talk that kids born after 2000 may have to legally change their names in order to get a job when they hit 18 because of all the garbage they put online about themselves while growing up.

People say "TMI, dude." This applies as well to the Internet.

Do anything "personal" online via an assumed identity. NEVER YOUR REAL NAME. NEVER TELL ANY EMPLOYER YOUR PERSONAL ONLINE IDENTITY(IES).

Construct an OFFICIAL online identity that projects your best qualities. Stuff that makes you look good but doesn't reveal anything controversial that might offend others. Etc. This is what they will find if they Google you.

Just as many people now have multiple e-mail accounts (one for personal e-mail which they give out only to trusted people and others for other needs), you need to do the same with your Internet identity.

I think this tendency is stronger in some professions than others, for example anything with marketing, 'the arts' or whatnot. For stuff in high-demand and that fewer people want to do, I don't think this is as necessary. I don't think you have to have an "online profile" if you want to be a home health aide or non-unionized nighttime security guard, for example.