5 ways to lose your job online.
I thought the blog today would be lighthearted, informative and fun. We are all on the internet on a constant basis, but fail to realize we need to protect our “internet self”. You may already know this, but many people have lost their jobs for things they have posted or shared online. How many times have you seen an Athlete or Business Executive have to remove their twitter accounts? Below are 5 ways to lose your job online for surfing and posting.
1. Mixing friends and work. – As innocent as it is, mixing your personal life with your co-workers could be a big no-no. Are you really “friends” with your co-workers? Yes, you enjoy working with them, having lunch, discussing customers, solutions, etc., but are you really friends? Do you spend your evenings or weekends with them? If not, I would leave them off my facebook page. Consider setting up two facebook accounts, one “professional”, and one personal.
2. Pictures and posts – You really don’t want to post a picture of your friend drunk at a party. It may seem funny at the time, but really, it’s not. Many times, existing employers, and future employers will glance at Facebook pages to decide if they want to hire someone, or to check to make sure they are not leaking any company information. We don’t want to give any future/existing employer any reason to think less of you. Make a note to yourself to be very careful and mindful of what your friends post about you.
3. Secrets – bragging about a promotion or special project could get someone at work very annoyed. Recently, a Microsoft employee bragged about the details of an upcoming version of Windows. That kind of indiscretion could prove devastating if hackers were able to design new attacks based on the information they receive from your blog or post.
4. Badmouthing – You’ve heard the old expression “don’t bite the hand that feeds you”. Do not blog, email, or post on public sites that your co-worker is “insane”, or your boss doesn’t have a clue what is going on, or your job is sooooo boring. These comments can easily get back to your workplace.
5. Public Hooky – don’t call in sick, then post a picture of yourself at Disney World. I once saw an employee post on Facebook at 3:00pm in the afternoon that they “checked in” at the Gym. Need I say more?
