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A Cautionary Tale

The case of "Cisco Fatty" became a recent cause celebre, when an unguarded tweet to a postgrad student's friends about a job offer she had received from Cisco was picked up by an employee of Cisco, then by a blogger, and then rapidly spun out of control across the web.

140 Characters To Change Your World

This is the tweet, and the source of the term "Cisco Fatty":

"Cisco just offered me a job! Now I have to weigh the utility of a fatty paycheck against the daily commute to San Jose and hating the work."

How The Story Went Viral

http://bhc3.wordpress.com/2009/03/20/breathe-reflections-the-cisco-fatty-story/

This is from the blogger who wrote the original (short) post about Connor Riley's job offer from Cisco - and how it escalated from there.

The Tweeter's Tale

http://www.tgdaily.com/trendwatch-nib/41804-how-to-use-technology-correctly-and-with-class

This is the response from Connor Riley who made the (unfortunately public) tweet about her job offer from Cisco.

Watch What You Say On-Line

Recruiters are just humans like you and can often use search engines just as effectively when they're curious about someone who has applied for a job.

Take care over anything you post in a public forum on-line, whether on a blog, on Twitter, on Facebook, on Flickr, on any forum or bulletin board where you can be identified.

This includes comments or photos posted publicly by your friends and identified as you or linked from pages associated with you, or even pages you've since deleted or changed - the internet has a long memory...

Oh, and don't assume that they can't access your posts on the Grimecore or World of Warcraft forums you frequent - the employers you're interested in are just you in a couple of years, and they probably have the same interests. This might work in your favour if you finally discover that your on-line best mate, "Soronax_The_Destroyer", is your interviewer - but not if you've been locked in a flame war for the last few months.

How Employers Are Checking Up On You

http://arstechnica.com/web/news/2009/08/uncouth-facebook-postings-closing-doors-for-job-candidates.ars

Want to know how many employers check out applicants on-line?

Secure Your Facebook Setting

http://arstechnica.com/web/news/2009/08/meshing-social-networking-and-privacy-on-facebook.ars

Good advice on how to change the privacy settings on your Facebook account

Don't Just Hide Under A Virtual Rock

Don't assume that you should avoid any mention of yourself on the web. A good on-line presence can help establish your professional credibility - and accessibility. How many of us have Googled someone before contacting them, or at least searched the university website? In academia, an on-line presence is becoming more and more critical.

(But use a pseudonym for all the stuff you'd rather your employers didn't know about!)