So you think your Facebook is locked down to the point that your employer (current and prospective) will not have access to your life. This issue has long been raised and discussed, with people making sure that “incriminating” photos are not accessible to those who are not supposed to see them. Of course, there will always be loopholes. And it really is not all about photos anymore.
With the way things are going, it seems that employers now prefer Facebook to IQ tests in evaluating employees!
Does the thought concern you, or couldn’t you care less?
Researchers from Northern Illinois University, the University of Evansville and Auburn University have conducted studies with people working in the human resource sector. Their goal was to determine how these people – trained in evaluating employees – perceive individuals based on their Facebook pages. The personality traits that were taken into consideration are:
- extroversion
- conscientiousness
- emotional stability
- agreeableness
- openness to new experiences
It is rather easy to see how these personality traits are exhibited on Facebook, isn’t it?
The interesting thing about the studies is that the human resource people seemed to give more weight to the information they gleaned from the Facebook pages as opposed to IQ tests. Then again, we can argue that these two things are very different. Personality traits and one’s IQ are not the same banana. However, what is significant is that Facebook information seems to be a better indication of future job performance. At least that’s what the human resource people think.
What’s your take on this trend?
Image via Scoop
