It happened a few years ago, but my social media activity came back to haunt me when what I wrote on my Myspace account came between me and a new job.
Seven years ago, I had been part of a professional organization that elected me the leader. Although I enjoyed this position, I found that it was assumed I would continue to grant special favors to a select few, which was something that previous leaders had done. This made my position very uncomfortable and compromised many of my personal values.
When the same people eventually prevented me from leading effectively, I made the mistake of expressing my dissatisfaction with the situation on my Myspace account, along with details of the favors I had granted and some foul language.
Due to how I handled this situation, I was forced to step down. I had, however, learned one of the most important lessons in life: Whatever I wrote on the Internet would have to be something I would be OK with on the front page of any newspaper.
Due to how I handled this situation, I was forced to step down. I had, however, learned one of the most important lessons in life: Whatever I wrote on the Internet would have to be something I would be OK with on the front page of any newspaper.
Little did I know, this lesson would keep on giving.
Jump ahead four years and I was unemployed. I applied for a great paying customer service job at a well known company that I had wanted to work at for years. A month after I put in my application, I was invited to a group interview. Within a few days, I was asked to return for another interview with three managers and I left knowing I had interviewed well.
Three days later, the personal department representative called and told me that the job was mine, once I granted them permission to conduct a background search. Never imagining that my previous Myspace incident would come back to haunt me, I signed the consent form and a week later was invited to return to the office.
Excited, and assuming I got the job, I brought along all of my identification required to complete my W-4 form and American citizenship paperwork. I nearly fainted when I was escorted into the meeting room and two personal representatives were waiting for me with many photocopies in front of them.
"We have some concerns," one representative said. "We found your name on a blog," and she proceeded to produce copies of my Myspace site, one that I had thought I had erased but someone else had copied and posted onto their own blog. "Can you explain this?"
I found that nothing I said sounded good, even to me! They asked if I had anger issues. They asked me why I would write such a thing in public forum, where anyone could read and duplicate it? They asked if this was acceptable conduct for someone who was leading a professional organization?
I explained how I was essentially bullied to grant favors. But the personal officers pointed out that if I knew what was right and if I knew what was wrong, why did I grant those favors? And, most importantly, why did I post my version of the whole story, with some profanity, online for anyone to see?
Based on the questions they asked me, I knew that I needed to look for another position. I apologized for my actions and advised that I did learn my lesson from this experience, yet they never called me back.
*Note: This was written by a Yahoo! contributor. Do you have a careers story that you'd like to share? Sign up with the Yahoo! Contributor Network to start publishing your own finance articles.
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