Post Responsibly

Are you in a profession that requires a great deal of responsibility or a discreet lifestyle? Are you constantly on your Facebook and Twitter accounts? In this day and age when social media is everywhere, employers are taking some liberties and performing Internet searches on potential candidates as well as asking for Facebook or Twitter passwords.

Since we know the “shoulder surfing” phenomenon is occurring more often than not, you should prepare and do your research. Some potential responses include:

1. Mention that you take policies very seriously and this is against Facebook’s policy.

2. Stress how you honor privacy and will follow all of the firm's privacy policies. Highlight that you will not place any firm-related material on your private social media sites.

3. Politely decline.

Additionally, if you are positive a potential employer will ask the question, be sure to research your state’s law on using private social media information against a potential job candidate. Of course, you always have the option to delete posts you would not like a potential employer to see, choose not to have any social media sites, or be conservative while surfing and posting on the Internet.

What would you do?