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Social Networking and Your Job: Lessons from the "Cisco Fatty"
Featured Author:
Tania Khadder
Tania is a writer, editor, blogger, and TV enthusiast. She likes indie rock, good food, vodka gimlets, and living in San Francisco. She also likes dancing, but of course, not to indie rock. Tania has a BA in Anthropology from UCLA, and an MA in International Journalism from City University in London.
She's also co-founder of the blog Unemploymentality.
When she isn’t writing, she’s spending time with friends and family, obsessively surfing the web, or much to everyone’s annoyance, doing both simultaneously.
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Tania Khadder | Excelle
March 19, 2009
The internet is buzzing with tales of the latest web 2.0 casualty –the Cisco Fatty. The man who managed to jeopardize a new, high paying job, in 140 characters or less.
After receiving an offer from communications giant Cisco Systems, the jobseeker Twittered about it, telling his followers that although he had been offered a “fatty” paycheck, he wasn’t sure he would be able to endure the commute and “hating the work”.
Soon thereafter, Cisco’s Tim Levad saw the tweet, and responded: “Who is the hiring manager? I’m sure they would love to know that you will hate the work. We here at Cisco are versed in the web.”
We don’t know yet how this story ends. We do, however, know that there is a big lesson to be learned here. The same lesson we can take from other, similarly excruciating stories of social networking, and its assault on professionalism.
We all know that these days, the line between work and play is increasingly blurred. And social networking sites are no longer just for extroverted teenagers or tech-savvy college students.
Within hours, a page was created in honor of the Cisco Fatty’s blunder
Your mom is on Facebook. So, more likely than not, so is your boss. And you can’t exactly ignore his friend request. What you can do is avoid embarrassment, and possible joblessness, by being smart about your online activity.
Nothing is really private
Keep in mind that anything you say online could potentially be seen by your employer. Even if they aren’t a friend or follower, and even if your account is set to private. You never know which one of your contacts is friends with your boss, knows his wife or goes to school with his children. It’s called the Web for a reason. Virtual connections are vast, and they aren’t always transparent. If you wouldn’t want your employer to see it, keep it offline. It’s good practice to just assume that once you’ve put it online, it’s public.
Account Removed
10 months ago
Wonderful article. There are many ways that Social Networking can render positive outcomes for you, but there are also many MORE ways it can be a reputation killer!
ckgibson
10 months ago
108 comments
Never forget how public your life online is! Powerful tool - better to be used FOR you than AGAINST you!
mimki
10 months ago
414 comments
My dad always used a saying "If your lips could keep from slips 5 things observe with care: of whom you speak, to whom you speak, and how, and when, and where." This article shows that "speaking" on the internet should be approached with just as much caution.
Email4Mel
10 months ago
6 comments
When my kids started their myspace pages I made it clear to them that what goes on the web will be there forever and don't put anything on there that you don't want your kids to find in 30 years and to ALWAYS remember the 5 "p" people that could be their audience:
1. Peers 2. Parents 3. Principal/teachers 4. Police and 5. Potential Employers
Maybe this is good for adults to remember as well.
rharmon
10 months ago
28 comments
Big OOPS!!! People forget when they are online networking everything they write is a reflection of theirselves being portrayed to a vast amount of people with connections and personal judgements.