Kill yourself or sell yourself?
Source: Global Times
[08:18 November 24 2010]
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By Wen Ya
Huang Xuezhi was "killed" in a recent job hunt, but it was his own doing.
After graduating this year from Shanghai University with a master's degree in electric engineering and
automation, Huang, 25, applied for a job in a Shanghai electric engineering equipment company and passed the
interview phase. But he was refused last week after the company's HR manager looked up additional information
on social networking sites, including [Link] and his micro-blog.
In the websites and micro-blog, Huang posted some pictures of himself drinking in bars and according to HR
manager Wang Shanshan, it showed his social life was "too rich" and would have a negative effect on his job
performance.
"I just wanted to share my life with my friends. I never expected that these pictures would 'kill' me at the crucial
moment," Huang told Chongqing Evening News.
Common tactic
Investigating job applicants via social networking sites is not uncommon in both foreign countries and China,
though it is still illegal in Germany.
According to a survey commissioned by CareerBuilder in 2009, 45 percent of US employers say that they use
social networking sites to dig up information about job candidates - 23 percent higher than the previous year.
Fifty three percent of survey respondents said they rejected candidates because they posted provocative or
inappropriate photographs or information. Fifty percent said a candidate's profile provided a good feel for the
candidate's personality and fit.
Chinese employers also increasingly use social networking sites to screen candidates, especially those who apply
for senior positions, according to Ouyang Hui, director of Talent Research Center in [Link], one of leading
recruitment websites in China.
"This helps employers get a better understanding of their candidates," he told the Global Times.
Wang Sixin, vice president of the School of Politics and Law at Communication University of China in Beijing,
agreed with Ouyang.
"It could supplement information which they can't get from interviews. Since social networking sites and micro-
blogs are publicly published, it doesn't involve violating personal privacy," Wang told the Global Times. "Web
users should
Kill yourself or sell yourself?
Source: Global Times
[08:18 November 24 2010]
Comments
Sell yourself with caution
Pu Lan (pseudonym), 31, a culture and life editor in Beijing, sold herself thanks to a social networking site.
After she applied for a magazine editor's position at a film magazine last May, the magazine's executive editor
read her film reviews in [Link] and liked what he saw. The next day he made her an offer that she accepted.
"I write the reviews just to amuse myself, but when I knew they were read and helped get me the job, I was very
happy," Pu told the Global Times.
However, at the same time, though, it also caused Pu to delete some information that she thought should be more
private.
"I don't want to expose too much about myself and don't want them to know too much about my life. It's not good
for me in the long run," she said.
Though she is now more cautious about information she leaves on the site, Pu said she understands why
employers screen the sites.
"They can't get 100 percent accurate information on resumes because applicants may cheat in their resumes. But
on social networking sites and micro-blogs, most people show their real life including personalities, likes and
dislikes," she said.
'Not the whole person'
Some employers are not willing to tell candidates that they looked them up on a social networking sites for fear of
embarrassing them.
"How would you feel if your future boss told you he knows more about you through your social networking sites?"
Zhang Youming, founder of [Link], a Beijing-based campus recruitment website, told the Global Times.
Some employers think the additional information is not important.
"Through the social networking sites and micro-blogs, people can be themselves. In most cases, they hope to
share their information with their friends and classmates. At work, they will control their emotions. Their
performance on such sites have nothing to do with their work," a senior manager at a Beijing bank surnamed Li
told the Global Times.
If employers judge a candidate by his performance in social networking sites, they will mistaken part of the
person for the whole, Li said, adding candidates will feel their privacy is violated if they know their future
employers are snooping on them.
be careful when using those sites because they may kill you or sell you."