Question/Warning

Heisenberg.

This post has been deleted.

Nuttzz

so long as there isnt anything stupid on your bebo site i dont see what you have to worry about, the interviewer is worse for saying anything

r3nu4l

Ha, the secret (not really) is out.

A lot of employers look for Bebo/MySpace/LinkedIn/Facebook/etc accounts. We do!

I think that as an interviewer, I would definitely mention it to any candidate, no harm in letting them know that you've been checking them out. It can make a candidate uncomfortable sometimes but it's good to see how they handle that type of question/comment under that pressure.

With some people you can see them thinking "Oh Sh1t!" but to be honest any interviewer worth their salt knows that bebo is a fun sight and a candidate having a bebo account can indicate a healthy level of friends...implying they are easy to get on with, a bit of fun and have a life outside work! So no biggie really.

Tom Dunne

I would not find it surprising that interviewers search the internet for prospective employees before an interview.

For the hell of it, I just Googled myself (does that sound wierd to anyone else?) and it is surprising the amount of detail out there on me. All good, though, including former and current employers, something I posted on a Linux forum in 1999 and the fact that I am a member of the local residents committee.

I suppose it is a unique way to get an insight into the type of person a candidate is.

damnyanks

If you are only starting to realise now that they look at bebo and so on you are behind the game. Not sure where I saw it but some companies were getting into trouble for looking through this stuff.

2 simple ways to avoid them spying on you is to ensure your full name is not on the page and also to ensure that the whole world cannot view it.

You can argue that you are putting it up on the internet and so on so the companies are within their rights to view it - I'm of the mind its a personal page and has no impact on my professional life. I'd be annoyed if someone said they were on my bebo during an interview. I provide references and past work expereince thats enough

Wishbone Ash

tom dunne wrote:

For the hell of it, I just Googled myself

No mention of the real me via Google but first up is a US astonaut with a similar name. :cool:

(....and no, it's not Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin or Michael Collins )

PS - checking Bebo seems a bit invasive and petty IMO.

r3nu4l

Hmm, hardly petty and invasive? In my view it gives you a better view of the type of person you are dealing with.

CV's are quite often full of complete sh*t and indeed a well-crafted CV is nothing more than an advert...and I never believe everything I see on the ads. If there is more information out there, I'll look through it.

In fact, I've seen a CV recently that directed me to a candidates bebo page...it was very nice, neat but lacked any kind of true picture of the candidate, a bit cold and sterile...

...a quick search revealed her real bebo page and it was great, showed her to be someone full of life and exactly as we needed for the job in question Had I not dug any further she probably wouldn't have even got the interview, never mind be sitting in the office upstairs right now

Nehpets

What happens with 2 people the same name and they look up the wrong person?

r3nu4l

Nehpets wrote:

What happens with 2 people the same name and they look up the wrong person?

A bebo page is not the primary criteria for deciding who gets an interview The CV still has pride of place there. Most Bebo pages have photos so if the guy/girl walking into the interview looks nothing like the person whose bebo page you viewed then that's that really, back tot he drawing board and traditional interview

On another note, my uncle was interviewed in London for a job 30 years ago. When he walked into the room the interviewer said "You're Eugene?". He said "Yes, shy?"
The guy said "With a name like that I was expecting a coloured man so I've only scheduled you for a five minute interview" :rolleyes: Thank God those days are gone! :mad:

nesf

Nehpets wrote:

What happens with 2 people the same name and they look up the wrong person?

This is where having two very common Irish names is handy. If you google my name you get 447 results and the few that actually refer to me and might be identifiable as me (from education, location information on my CV) refer to a conference talk I gave and an academic paper my name is attached to (which are not bad things for them to find tbh). Other than that it's either obviously the wrong person or so vague that identifying the person is impossible/unlikely.

mick.fr

I have got the same first and last name of a very well known Hollywood Production Designer, I am even messing with my friends when some really famous movies starts, cause my name is all over the place lol.

So even if I was publishing my name on my blogs and other websites, they just would be flooded way beyond this guy.

I guess I am lucky :-)

feelthegrease

My name gets a prisoner on some prison pen pal website, prisonlife.com or something....



I'm screwed...

the_syco

r3nu4l wrote:

With some people you can see them thinking "Oh Sh1t!"

/me remembers I had a pic of me in a trenchcoat holding a gun a while back...

Luckily my name isn't on the site.

tom dunne wrote:

For the hell of it, I just Googled myself (does that sound wierd to anyone else?)

It sounds durtee, actually.

But when I did it to myself, the first few were about someone with my name being a TD, a Minister, paragliding, etc.

As for bebo.com, I got over 8 different matches, with my name.

gandalf

Thank god theres a famous artist with my name. No sign of me at all on Google

Kinetic^

Nothing on me if you search the whole web, a few things if you search Ireland only but nothing that could hurt my career.