Thursday, February 20, 2014
Cyber-nosy management (or watch what you tweet)
Not a week goes by when I don't read about the issue of watch what you post on social media it may affect your future job prospects or job you already have. Tesh is big on this but he's big on all the latest trends anyway and he just goes with the latest mainstream thinking as it evolves. My feeling - a boss who snoops in your cyberspace is not worth working for plain and simple. The ONLY matter at hand is are you qualified to get done the job at hand done? Look you get a busted pipe in the middle of winter I don't care that the local plumber may post socialist ravings on his blogsite nor should the plumber's boss care if he's a good one. I'm truly not getting this issue and why it's so much discussed and why some bosses feel the need to delve into your online personas. Of course if you're posting a personal scat video online then ok but by and large Free Speech is like a reservoir, row around and dip in and troll what you like it's all good and it's no concern of anyone else's much less a potential employer. Then again I don't put much stock in your basic job interview, I mean you could suck at them and still be a kickass worker but the smooth talkers and bs-artists always skate through. "What are your strengths and weaknesses?" dunno, my hands shake when I have too much coffee? Discuss:)
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Job interviews: sort of a strange game, isn't it? I only interviewed for a job 7-8 times
ReplyDeletein my whole career and got an offer 100% of the time. All the psych games, right
answers, tie color etc is so much fluff. Best off being yourself, unless you are a
Ted Nugent type. I don't remember how many people I interviewed when I had openings, a lot. Its like the resumes, it is easy to sniff out BS or incompetence.
Had a scientist one time, had a 6 year gap in employment in his work history. Asked him what the deal with that was and he pleaded the fifth. I tend to agree, though,
Z-Man, sometimes the interviewer has less sense than the interviewee. Out this way, the airport manager is retiring: committees interviewed over 40 applicants and found zero qualified, so specific positions require specific experience many times.
Gosh a 6 year employment gap! I've had a couple lengthy gaps myself many years ago and I think creative embellishment to fill in the gaps is called for (e.g. freelance photographer). It goes like this, you continue the occasional job applications, send resumes out and waste postage but time goes on like it always does and hardly anyone gives you a chance and before you know it there's 1 1/2 or 2 years under the bridge. Then to the interviewer it looks like you have some mental quirk or you masturbate everyday to Jerry Springer. I once had a gap of I think it was only 2 or 3 months and the interviewer right off the bat zeroed in on that and I resented it like geez guy ya know shit happens. BUT 6 years!! after about two years I'd strongly sniff out some family member or friend and say look I need a friggin' job. Six years, agreed, hard to explain.
Delete& I still don't get the utter relevance of social cyberspace to your employment. Many places now have you sign a form a subsection of which basically says and I'm paraphrasing "thou shalt not disparage our company online." That I can understand but everything else like you got shit drunk at some party? you squeezed your nutz too hard one night 'cause you had nothing to do? If your boss is looking up stuff like this about you imo he or she's a kind of cyberstalker not worth working for.
ReplyDeleteIMO, the bosses are just part of the e-generation. The plethora of data, including personal, is out there for good or bad. The introduction of the computer to business brought with it the practice of data mining. Perhaps,
Deletelike the NSA, the bosses and businesses will find that one in a million thing.
Hardlly worth the effort. We have some Swiss visitors coming in early summer, and they already found a photo of our house on google maps.
(and we are not on social media!)
Just think of the time involved and as you say it's usually not worth the effort. Seems to me they'd have to have somebody in charge of this, create a special title and have a separate dept. just for this. For what you ask? to see pictures of cats or some guy throwing up after a party?
DeleteWhy do potential employers check your credit score? It's the same thing. Seems like everyone at my job has everyone on their FB list all the way up to the director and higher. I'll be damned, none of those people is getting on my list. I separate work and home and never the twain shall meet. My name is unusual; if you would like to search me out you'll find plenty of stuff but I will not be handing it to you on a platter.
ReplyDeleteCredit histories, utterly irrelevant imo. Usual rationale is if you have a poor one your hand is gonna find its way into the till. Excludes half the population.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of unions I see Joe the Plumber is now a proud union man.
ReplyDeleteUNIONS - Generally I'm pro-union or was in the past much more so than your average conservative anyway but here's the big problem with labor unions. YOU CAN'T GET RID OF PEOPLE WHO DESERVE TO GO. Yeah unless they're caught stealing it's very very hard and I personally know of at least two workers who should go. They're either lazy or cause trouble or both, some have anti-social personalities, others are just nutz and paranoid but in a disturbing way and one needle in a haystack might even go postal someday. So time goes on and you're stuck 'cause you gotta work with these people. Now maybe unions are worth having and there's tradeoffs that are worth it but where I come from this is a problem.
DeleteVW is not pleased about this union vote. See, in the rest of the civilized world, workers get represented. That's how VW does business. Unfortunately for the south, this vote may cost them.
ReplyDeleteWith the exception of the Tennesee plant, and one in Mexico, ALL Volkswagen plants are unionized. The Tennesee GOP threatened to raise VWs taxes if the vote succeeded. European businesses are not used to
DeleteGOP crap, so it will be interesting. The volunteer state is famous for snake
handling religion, illegal moonshine and horse soring ; clearly VW
deserves better...perhaps Mexico.
The couple conservative bosses I had the main gripe against unions is it's very hard to terminate people so the workplace doesn't run normally. On the plus side unions get their workers health-care coverage and periodic automatic raises. For too many union honchos though it's become a way of life, a career and the higher level ones are raking in good salaries so when you pay your dues or get them taken away from you how much is going towards actual betterment of the average worker and how much is going to pay the union honcho's salary? Also in some of these states with right-to-work stuff going on many unions publicize those workers who choose to be non-members but who are still covered under the labor contracts kinda stigmatizing those workers because they're not pro-union enough. Pro-choice not.
Delete"Watch what you tweet" brings to mind those militia types down in Georgia who announced on facebook they were looking for explosives, grenades, etc to attack
ReplyDeletegovernment installations. FBI set up a sting, of course. Apparently they are charged with conspiracy and not stupidity.
What need for the NSA when we have social media? Zuckerburg is a genius.
ReplyDeleteDoing a little data-mining of my own. Basically it's just the three of us and an occasional guest, maybe 16 or 18 hits a day. Cozy isn't it?
ReplyDeleteWell....at least it keeps you free of trolls, sock puppets and conspirators.
ReplyDeleteI have SUCH a crush on this doctor.
ReplyDeleteFacebook paid $19 billion for a company called Whatsapp. Whatsup?
ReplyDeleteNow if I only blogged Michelle Obama wore a horrible dress during the obesity conference I'd get 50 hits a day easy.
ReplyDeleteRan across a blog the other day that claimed every time 'Colonel Sanders'
Deletewas in the post title, his hits doubled.
From here on in I'm just gonna insert the word "analplay" into my post titles as in "Whose side is the Obama Administration on {analplay} in the Ukraine?"
DeleteAnd it's so much fun being the favorite and more fun because everyone knows it and they are SO. JEALOUS.
ReplyDeleteAnd finally a gop person has come honest and referred to a pregnant woman as a host. The woman has no importance here except as an incubator. This all goes back to a post i made about personhood. The gop does not like women, . Period.
ReplyDeleteAs I said before there's alot of male chauvinists out there who are practically pro-abortion so it cuts both ways. Don't wanna be bothered with a kid, with child support, don't wanna ruin my fun. Just sayin':)
DeleteWell I'm at the library getting caught up on my blogging and it's snowing AGAIN. Really a light forecast, maybe a dusting but I'm looking up at the sky and wanna go "YO we're good!"
ReplyDeleteEver buy something from Amazon ?
ReplyDeleteAll the time
DeleteSo we're supposed to boycott both Walmart AND Amazon? but they have the best stuff.
DeleteI see Bitcoin is having a bit of a boggle. I also hear its a young white rich anarchocapitalist male problem. Bet all those egos never saw it coming.
ReplyDeleteBeen a bit delayed today. Brand new hood today...until the next asshole hits me.
ReplyDeleteSomeday will be telling awed youngsters how you survived the Yonkers Winter Of
ReplyDelete2013-4.
Talk about funerals and wakes got me to thinking. Now I think it fair to say there's millions of men across these fruited plains who have porno DVDs (for starters). Maybe there's other stuff, toys, unguents, whatever and we all have to go sometime. Sometimes we go sooner rather than later, unexpectedly. Now I'd hazard a guess most men don't want their survivors to find their secret stashes and caches after they're gone so arrangements/provisions must be made ahead of time. One friend becomes designated as The Cleaner. While everyone else is stricken with grief and can't function, all the more so if the death was tragic (e.g. Jeremy got hit by a Budweiser truck) but the Cleaner doesn't get caught up in all this. Methodical and logical he knows what he has to do and sooner rather than later, get rid of The Hidden Stash so the wife, Mom and Dad, whoever doesn't find it and the sacred memory becomes tarnished. The Cleaner is totally clear-headed and does what needs to be done and when he's almost done cleaning he maybe has himself a cup of coffee or two in the kitchen then leaves quietly and then participates in the usual and traditional rituals of grief. C'mon, you know this has to be true:)
ReplyDeleteWith a bit of luck, the cleaner might be one of those lucky types that finds the deceased used thousands of $50 dollar bills to insulate his walls!
ReplyDeleteCould get a little complicated. Let's say the cleaner has a heart attack, even dies you have to have backup cleaners but the more backup cleaners you have the more your Secret is liable to get out. The cleaner of course has to have his own key but let's say the key gets lost or misplaced there should be a duplicate. Of course the porn hobbyist could have one of them portable DVD players and keep his stash in a little cave on top of a mountain:)
ReplyDeleteThe techno/geek crowd - so I'm at the public library just now and am playing with this new Samsung Galaxy tablet and I'm sittin' there in a corner comfy chair and of course there's the usual young techno-crowd at all the tables, folks who should be working and I'm just getting familiar with the new device, there's alot to know so a couple times the default whistling notification comes on and it's obvious I disturbed everyone so I politely went downstairs. The tech-dorks are a rough crowd, you'd think I just shat in the fine arts aisle with one of them newspaper sticks up my bum:)
ReplyDeleteSorry havent been around, stayed at work for the storm. Home now. We really need a forum or a fb page. Would be easier.
ReplyDeleteSome of those folks may be working. I knew a guy who used to run his business sitting in the corner of the local coffee shop.
ReplyDeleteI could go for that.
DeleteI guess libraries have changed since I used to frequent them: wandering through the
ReplyDeletestacks looking for a book. Before google and Wiki, you could call them on the phone
and ask what the capital of Azerbaijan was, hold for a few seconds and get 'Baku'.
I'm not sure why folks e-congregate there, though, as I can do that fine at home?
Is it the Wi-Fi?
It might be. I still think more of them are working than you think.
ReplyDeleteThat's probably why my whistling notifications annoyed everyone at that table and they gave me dirty looks. IF a noise in the library upsets you that much, don't know if this generation would be able to fight a war BB.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, I did an exercise in interview skills with my student where we roleplayed and I was the graduate nurse looking for a job. In the space of three seconds she changed the job I was applying for from a huge teaching hospital to a small community facility. She was so moved by the answer I gave to "why do you want to work here?" that she busted out crying. Granted she's a bit emotional but still, it was a testament to my consummate artistry with the BS. You're right about that: interviewing is the art of sculpturing bullshit into different beautiful forms. I happen to be able to back up my BS with concrete work, but any halfassed cockatoo can learn to wend their way through an interview and potentially get a job they're totally unqualified for.
ReplyDeleteThe 'crying' technique can be helpful. Had a little old lady scientist visit my
Deletelab for three weeks and taught her how to analyze her products: gas chromatography, where various ingredients come out making peaks at various times. Location of peak is a specific chemical, size of peak is
quantity. Suggested she could use it to analyze competitor stuff as well as incoming/outgoing QC. She called when she got back to her workplace and said that she went in to see the CEO, asked for a gas chromatograph and described all she could do with it. He said no. She cried. She got one!
How's Beth these days?
ReplyDeleteThat ties into my thoughts on iOS vs. Android. I don't think the iPad is fully compatible with Google.
ReplyDeleteWant land? Got bitcoin ?
ReplyDeleteWell if it's so good how come Amazon and Google Play haven't adopted it yet?
ReplyDeleteProbably because it is ephemeral, based on zilch?
ReplyDeleteI'm guessing the porn sites don't take bitcoin.
ReplyDeleteA 'bit' ironic; the cyber currency is already having problems with wealth distribution . *heh*
ReplyDeleteSo what about Facebook?
ReplyDeleteI have off tomorrow. Today I gotta makes copies of this and that form for the DMV and my insurance co. over the damaged hood and have to get my mechanic to sign something. I don't have an account at FB yet but I'm sure it's easy. I kinda took a glance there the other day.
DeleteIt is very easy and you can find me there in a minute. And I will add you to The Short List. What say you BB?
ReplyDeleteWhat are you discussing over there?
ReplyDeleteI just left a short comment over there. Kind of a unique name and you have many different images. Kind of like Madonna, you keep reinventing yourself.
ReplyDeleteNot discusding anything really . Comeand start one.
ReplyDeleteWait you left a comment where?
ReplyDeleteSee that's the thing, I'm new to the place and am not familiar with FB navigation. So I see a box or icon that says "message" and I did this after signing up of course and so composed my message and I believe it said if you're not a friend yet it'll go in your other folder or something. I knew I had the right place because of your latest photo and you had a story up about a quaint cabin on the Blue Ridge Pkway. The other day Tesh on the radio said it's now a social media trend to unfriend people that a large percentage do it. I'm kinda getting hooked on Tesh.
ReplyDeleteIt has recently been revealed that NSA has been using a FaceBook decoy to stick maleware to suck the brain out of a computer,
ReplyDeleteamong their other intriguing electronic spookiness.
Don't worry we have the mighty TOR. Oh, that's funded by the gov't too. Here we are worried about the techno-geeks who masturbate in their parents' basements while working with botnets and backdoors. NSA probably also knows I'm due for a colonoscopy in another year.
DeleteYes that's right. I just had a doctor's appointment and I get another year to study the issue.
DeleteJust do it right with a friend request.
ReplyDeleteWill do. The place is new to me and I'm just getting familiar like housesitting a friend's house and you don't know where they keep the extra rolls of bathroom tissue.
DeleteWelcome to the dark side.
ReplyDeleteIf I'm not there that much my time is cramped anyway. The other day I put in for my vacation.
ReplyDeleteVacation advice: avoid Malaysian Air.
DeleteAre we EVER gonna find out what happened or is this gonna be relegated to the Jimmy Hoffa and Loch Ness Monster files for a future Time-Life book?
Delete