I was laid off in 2008 from a company where I had worked for almost three years. After the layoff, I applied for a job at a company that I had heard was looking for customer service people.
I filled out the application for the job online and within two days I was called in for an interview. The first thing I noticed that seemed to be a little strange was that I had to fill out another application once I got there. I filled it out and handed it back to the receptionist. She turned around with another paper and stated that I needed to fill it out as well in order to get the interview.
I remember thinking that this was weird, but I needed the job. I had never seen anything like this, though. The page that asked if I had a Twitter account, a Facebook account, or a Myspace account. It then asked for passwords to these accounts. I thought to myself, this really is unusual, so I wrote on the paper that I would be willing to discuss these accounts in the interview but I was not going to just give them my passwords.
I knew this was an invasion of my personal privacy, so I told the receptionist that I would discuss this information in the interview, but that I was not going to fill that section out. She said that she would have to see if they still wanted to interview me.
As I sat there waiting I recall thinking that this might not be the right job for me, but I decided to give it a shot to see how it went. I was informed that I was still going to be interviewed, because I did not refuse to not talk about my Twitter, Facebook, and Myspace accounts.
I was called into the hiring manager's office and was told to have a seat. I was first asked about the type of work I was seeking. I was then asked why I thought I would be a good fit for the company. I explained my answers and then answered some more questions. Towards the end of the interview I was asked if I would give them my social media account passwords.
I asked them why they needed them. The hiring manager said that they would need them to process leads for me to sell knives. I thought that was strange but possibly an effective way to sell their product and generate some new income, so I decided to give them the passwords. They looked up my account and saw that most of my associates on them live in completely different states than I do.
This prompted the manager to turn to me and ask me how I intend to sell these people these knives. I told the hiring manager that I would not be selling them any knives. The reason for that, of course, is that they live in completely different states. He told me that he was not going to be able to hire me and I thought that was the end of it.
That was until a couple days later when I got a phone call from my mom asking me why I sent her a nasty message on Facebook. I told my mom that it was not me and that asked her what the message said. She said that it stated that she was making it hard to sell her any knives since she was in another state. She asked me why I would be trying to sell her knives to begin with.
I explained the situation and ended up having to change my account and reconnect with everybody from the old account. This is how I first learned of the horrors involved in social media sites and some jobs that ask for this information. I will never again give my passwords to another company, job or no job
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