[Anaguma]

I have been noticing a trend in that entry level positions are being vetted more carefully to favor those who are conservative, especially for evidence that they are conservative both in public and in private. Upper management now vets employee candidates more carefully vetted by using employment agencies while having a particular emphasis on social media information gathering. The result is such that the people I interview seem to all be rather conservative, not even in the beta sense but more of the LDS/hard core protestant social conservative sense, and I'm in the west coast of the US. After about 30 interviews or so, I have not interviewed anybody that does not fit into that mindset. I've also heard from collegues from other firms in the industry that there is a similar trend.

When I first started, this was definitely not the case, but now I wonder. I can guess as to why this would be the case in my field:

1) Community image is very important, and scandals could be quite ruinous to the image of the company
2) As most of these positions involve a position of trust where breaches of ethics could result in jail, people dumb enough to post things on facebook/twitter/etc. or otherwise have any public information indicative of a dubious past should definitely not be there.
3) The industry in general is very risk adverse

It is possible that this may be unique to my field, but I wonder if anyone else here has experienced something similar.

This is a very bad trend as now it looks like if you make a mistake, even as a teen growing up in the internet age where everyone posts everything, you could be blackballed forever. If this goes on, life is going to be very dull and I will be very tempted to just quit, even though the money is very, very good.

[BortimusPrime]

It's the natural progression of sharing too much. You saw the same effect with the Puritans when they flew the Spirit of St. Louis here to invent America in 1492. Back in overcrowded England it was easier to be anonymous, but living in a 100 person village in Massachusetts suddenly everyone knew everyone else, and it became a lot harder to cast your magic missiles and summon headless horsemen without the local religious nut catching wind and burning you at the stake.

Seriously though, if you look at all the internet personal scandals we see now, they bear a striking resemblance to 17th century witch hunts. Look at the progression:

1. (Past) Someone makes a blashpemous comment within earshot of ye olde town gossip.
1. (Present) Someone makes a politically incorrect comment that's on a social media site.

2. (Past) Ye olde town gossip spreads it to the whole town, getting everyone gossiping. Local religious authority catches wind and starts condemning the person publicly in order to reinforce his own status as a moral authority.
2. (Present) Facebook spreads the racist/sexist comment far beyond the intended audience. PC activists catch wind and start condemning the person publicly in order to reinforce their own statuses as moral authorities.

3. (Past) Blasphemer gets burned at the stake or run out of town by the an angry mob. Real life consequences have developed from spreading gossip.
3. (Present) The mob boycotts whatever company the hate speecher works for, getting him fired and blacklisted. Once again large negative consequences from the combined force of all the internet's umbrage.

Note that ultimately each individual that is offended by the hate speech/blasphemy isn't really THAT offended. They're just pissed off enough to click a button on facebook or type a couple sentences, but they would never confront the offender alone. Similarly, the angry mob of villagers only can exist as an angry mob, no lone villager would attack the witch by himself. Mobs are composed of cowards that derive courage from knowing everyone agrees with them.

Unfortunately this behavior seems to be inherent to human nature, and is a very good reason why people should be able to remain anonymous on internet forums if meaningful speech is to be preserved. Imagine how quickly we'd have the PC police trying to get us all fired or shipped to a CIA torture facility in Turkmenistan if every post on here was accompanied by our real name and a thumbnail of our facebook profile photo flexing into a bathroom mirror. It's bad enough that concerted effort with following ip addresses can finger someone trying to be anonymous, but luckily that's too much work for your average internet white knight.

[JimNortonFan]

Watch the movie Casino. Samuel Ace Rothstein employed Mormons in the money room so he could be sure they weren't stealing.

Most young people today have no morality and no ability to think more than 5 seconds ahead.

Facebook is their father, mother, siblings, significant other, sun, moon, and earth.

They would post the Coke formula on Facebook before they would sell it to Pepsi. They're so dumb they'd rather get the likes than the millions of dollars.

They're so narcissistic that they will hurt the company if they don't get what they want or get chided by the boss for poor work.

There is a small number of Christopher Hitchens Sam Harris type atheists who are good people. The rest of the good people are religious.

Note the way LDS people dress. No tats, reasonable hair, regular plain clothes. Same with Hitchens, Harris, and Dawkins.

Some guy with tats, weird hair, etc. shows up, conduct a sham interview and toss the motherfucker.

Bottom line > being "fair"

Look at the Adria Richards case. Two shithead herbs talking about forking a dongle like Beavis and Butthead. They look like shitty little herbs with their hipster glasses and beards. You don't hire people who look like that for any position of responsibility that requires interacting with the public. Nobody did. They were hired to be out of the public eye and managed to get into it. Richards looks SWPL to the core even if she is a minority. Her blowing up a molehill into a mountain almost cost her company its existence at the hands of Anonymous. SWPL is a narcissist who thinks they can change the world with social media. Herb is just a shithead at everything except programming. Who exactly is a company supposed to hire. A nice LDS with skills is a godsend to any company.

[Parlay44]

It's a buyers' market. That's why. That's true for Engineering at least. The market is flooded with new graduates fighting over $40k jobs.

[Tex Pro]

Most "white collar" companies now check social media and do a google search when hiring someone. This is one of the reasons why working at a white collar job nowadays is boring as fuck. Almost everyone hired is a square. I personally don't really have a social media presence so that a google search on me will come up with nothing except a LinkedIn profile since I too am in a field that tends to have a conservative bend to it. I can't wait for the day that I save enough money to start my own small business and quit my job. The beta-ization of the corporate workplace is already well underway, not to mention the feminization of the corporate workplace that already exists due to sexual harassment laws, political correctness, etc.

[Samseau]

(06-10-2013 07:38 PM)Parlay44 Wrote:  

It's a buyers' market. That's why. That's true for Engineering at least. The market is flooded with new graduates fighting over $40k jobs.

Ha. Engineering is one of the better job markets.

The Death of Humanities Majors:

Quote:

"People say you should do what you love," but in the new normal reality, it appears - based on the flagging applications at Harvard's humanities division - that oft-used phrase has been appended with, "but, I don't want to be doing what I love and be homeless."

[Anaguma]

(06-10-2013 08:43 PM)The Texas Prophet Wrote:  

Most "white collar" companies now check social media and do a google search when hiring someone. This is one of the reasons why working at a white collar job nowadays is boring as fuck. Almost everyone hired is a square. I personally don't really have a social media presence so that a google search on me will come up with nothing except a LinkedIn profile since I too am in a field that tends to have a conservative bend to it. I can't wait for the day that I save enough money to start my own small business and quit my job. The beta-ization of the corporate workplace is already well underway, not to mention the feminization of the corporate workplace that already exists due to sexual harassment laws, political correctness, etc.

I'm in the same boat; the huge addiction to risk aversion is annoying. Hopefully I can exit within the next ten years.
So far that is looking more and more like a possibility.

[The Beast1]

It's really not that difficult to mask ones online life.

I hate how you have to use facebook to make comments on news websites. I went ahead and made a new facebook account and verified it with a prepaid phone i had lying around.

Also, google your name and see what comes up. Do it with "quotation" marks around your name.

I also have a very strict profile viewing setup on my facebook. Basically, nothing gets posted to my wall without my permission. And all of my pictures are blocked.

[Basil Ransom]

I've heard that the NSA set up their big facility in Utah partly because Mormons are so squeaky clean and easy to get through the security process. No drugs, no DUIs, stable finances, honest, no foreign contacts, no criminal record, mentally stable, etc.

[Alpharius]

It's also in the middle of nowhere.

[rudebwoy]

This is seriously messed up, a friend of mine was recently told by a recruiter he needs a Twitter account.

[presidentcarter]

Resumes are mostly useless these days. Now your resume consists of your linkedin page and your social/professional network.

[rudebwoy]

PC - Why do you think resumes are useless?

The same recruiter was stressing how important it was.

[gandt]

Just make sure all your social media accounts are linked to an alias name that has no link back to your real name. Also make sure you aren't in any incriminating pics.

Problem solved.

[presidentcarter]

(06-14-2013 09:38 AM)rudebwoy Wrote:  

PC - Why do you think resumes are useless?

The same recruiter was stressing how important it was.

If you're fresh out of college, resumes carry more weight. Mostly they just want to see a high GPA and that you filled out your college experience with some extracurricular clubs or organizations. It also helps to have an international internship or something that will catch someone's eye and serve as a talking point. It's about all you have at this point and employers know that, but for good positions it has to be spotless and impressive. Otherwise, get ready to supplement with personal network and advertising yourself online.

If you've already worked a few years, the resume basically serves a checks-and-balances purpose. You'll most likely get interview leads from someone you know, who will have already vouched for you to their supervisor or HR. They will then pour over your LinkedIn before you go to the interview, as another screen.

So the resume is still very important, but good luck sending that in anonymously to online job postings. You'll most likely rely on your personal network, a headhunters network, or your linkedin skills to get that initial bite. Like I said then the resume just becomes one of several checks-and-balances to make sure you are who you say you are and can fulfill the duties of the position.

[Anaguma]

(06-14-2013 09:49 AM)presidentcarter Wrote:  

(06-14-2013 09:38 AM)rudebwoy Wrote:  

PC - Why do you think resumes are useless?

The same recruiter was stressing how important it was.

If you're fresh out of college, resumes carry more weight. Mostly they just want to see a high GPA and that you filled out your college experience with some extracurricular clubs or organizations. It also helps to have an international internship or something that will catch someone's eye and serve as a talking point. It's about all you have at this point and employers know that, but for good positions it has to be spotless and impressive. Otherwise, get ready to supplement with personal network and advertising yourself online.

If you've already worked a few years, the resume basically serves a checks-and-balances purpose. You'll most likely get interview leads from someone you know, who will have already vouched for you to their supervisor or HR. They will then pour over your LinkedIn before you go to the interview, as another screen.

So the resume is still very important, but good luck sending that in anonymously to online job postings. You'll most likely rely on your personal network, a headhunters network, or your linkedin skills to get that initial bite. Like I said then the resume just becomes one of several checks-and-balances to make sure you are who you say you are and can fulfill the duties of the position.

To add to that, resumes are definitely important if you are an unknown quantity, like if you are a fresh grad or if you can't get a recommendation into any job. Though in my industry, recommendations trump all since the community is rather small and everyone pretty much knows everyone else. I have actually never had my resume scrutinized, keep a nearly blank linkedin page, and never had an interview be anything more than a formality, all because I interned at one place for college credit and got a recommendation into the industry.

It has gotten rather ridiculous as of late, in that it's almost impossible for a new grad to break into the field, especially on top of the social conservative kick that everyone seems to be having now. I think the industry only hires like, <30% of new grads that apply now, and they are almost all LDS/hard core protestant/otherwise social conservative types from what I have seen. Experience also doesn't seem to matter anymore; if you get laid off and you don't have any recommendations or any book of business, your career dies right there.

It sucks now and I kinda feel sorry for the new grads. I am fairly certain that I would never break in the industry today with the credentials and history that I had as a new grad.