Want to work here? Hand over your Facebook password.....!

[M2nFarisFan]

Yes, in the "buyer/employer's market" for job hunting, employers have gone beyond the asking for your SSN, credit report, and the such. According to San Antonio's KENS5-TV, the new fad is for applicants to hand over their Facebook passwords as a provision for employment at the company. In addition to that, some agencies are having applicants "friend" HR departments in order to keep tabs on their employees. Companies say "you can refuse" and are using them to check for disparaging remarks about their employment, underage illegal activity, and the such.

Link here.

Two things I think:

1. If this isn't illegal now, it should be. Doesn't this violate the First Amendment?

and

2. It's another reason why I lend to the fact that the current elite is trying to eliminate the middle class, with keeping the labor pool large and asking too much of employees, squatting on money, and hiring/firing hundreds to get "the perfect match". It's not the way to create an economy. Hiring more than you can handle is CAPITALISM, not 60 hour, 20 hour overtime slavery. Should this continue, what is next? A filter on my home computer so I can't shop Walmart if I work at Target? I can't bank at PNC if I work at BankOne? How about my checking account number and PIN (they already have half of that) to see if I'm buying adult movies? Heck, they already make you sign an agreement saying you won't sue if you are unhappy or discriminated. They get your credit report.

It's one step towards a singular, dossier-esque identity that every human will have. Sort of like the numbers on prisoners in concentration camps. Another step towards 1984, if you ask me.

Comment like mad (before GSN agrees to tell my employer I don't like this. ;P )

[TheNewNeko]

Corporations have been abusive for years. And this is just the newest thing. Between 1997 and 2007, I worked for roughly fifteen companies that were just like you said. One would sit me down and work me so hard I had intestinal problems. Then they'd call me in and complain about those.

Steve-o, I could give you some of the ways I was treated at jobs and you'd think it was tantamount to verbal and emotional abuse. But right now I don't have a lot of time.

[M2nFarisFan]

You've told me before about that. The thing is that I think you're working for a bit different of an accounting business than what my friends are. I had a colleague named Carina who I made friends with in an Economics class I had to take for my major. You'd be glad to know that the first time she spoke to me was after I got caught staring at her, eh, "chest". She works as a consultant at a Big Four accounting firm, and actually, she took an extra semester to get her Master's from Penn State.

I will never bash another accountant on Facebook or anywhere because she works 10x as hard as the rest of us. Of course, with her, it is probably because her parents were loaded, which essentially means Daddy calls his friend and she gets in. But I'll be honest, I still talk to her all the time. She would make a nice acquaintance for you, because I think she is absolutely sick of the high life and would rather be associated with common people like you and me. But you would have to put the ogling aside and take what you get, because she won't take bullcrap from anyone

If you think the abuse is bad at a temp agency, it's probably because management is under two aspects: Produce more and spend less. They essentially are afraid of being replaced. Sure, they won't p**s off the customers, but they have to vent their stress somewhere. I personally think I wouldn't be much good at sitting at a computer all day (I was asked by a temp agency to do check entry for a company in Indiana, PA. Paid $500 a week after taxes, but I'd lose my mind sitting all day.)

The thing is though, Big Steve, that you have to do what they ask and agree with them to their face. I know there's a lot of accounting jobs, but a Master's degree doesn't necessarily mean you'll start anywhere but from the bottom. And yea, I'd agree that the jobs are stress. Most jobs are supposed to be stressful but lawful....that's why they pay what they do. And not to be criticizing, but I can't help but wonder if the anger you post on here, Facebook, and YouTube carries over to your job. And if so, it will be destructive.

In actuality, I have a Black Belt-esque discipline at work. Never argue, never do anything but smile. People honestly ask how I can be so nice and polite to people. I work retail, mind you, and there are a lot of people who really do get belligerent at work. They don't last long. It's often good for morale and spreads. So there.

(Strayed from topic, BTW. Sorry. )

[TheNewNeko]

First of all, why do you think I'm applying for permanent disability?

Second, Carina sounds like a catch. Because I don't take bullcrap from anyone either.

As for your issue of anger and me, you do bring out something in me, Steve-o. What that something is is the same bullcrap that I've put up with for years from older brothers, so-called friends and colleagues.

That is that these people have, for lack of a better word, God complexes. To some extent, I can understand this. But keep in mind that I only really get enraged when a fear of failure encompasses me or when I am faced with someone who has a holier-than-thou attitude for something that is just plain f---ing stupid.

Let's take your attitude, for example. What the hell, you have about as much psychology training as I do. You come on here and state how somehow Crosby or Rapistburger winning a game somehow makes you better than everyone else in the free world. Or at least someone like me. Does it really? It's how the game is played. I'd argue the opposite. Saying that you are somehow superior to another person because a team you support wins championships sounds ironically like making up for another shortcoming, kind of like how a guy who buys a Ford F-150 truck is making up for a diminished size certain part of his body similar in name to the first name of the host of "The $25,000 Pyramid" during the 1980s.

Also, ironically, what you see is only a fraction of what I am capable of -- somewhere between 30 and 40%. At 75%, I actually spasm one time uncontrollably, which is really a joy. At 90%, coherence starts going out the window and I end up with tunnel vision, similar to Mortal Kombat when the screen darkens a little bit and that's when the real fun begins.

But getting back to your discussion question. Corporations, I hate to say it, have way too many rights. And by that, I mean we have permitted them to chase the dollar to such an extent that it is having a permanent problem with the economy.

Let me sum this up for you in terms of someone who's not a graduate student trying to take a Finance class.

In the pursuit of making CEO's and stockholders happy on a daily basis, companies have found the ideal balance of both human and working capital. In the interest of maintaining this balance to maximize their profits at all costs.

This is leading to a problem in at least three very distinct areas:

1) The corporations are creating a permanent underclass. There will be, from now on, millions of people who haven't worked in years because some of these corporations will not give a flying rat's rear end if these people live or die. Unemployment will run very high compared to other industrialized nations mostly because the companies that aren't hiring have their ideal balance of people. Don't let Obama's numbers fool you... his recovery is going slower than a 400 lb. Pirates fan on a hot Pittsburgh day trying to waddle his way to a corn dog stand and getting stuck in the stairway.

2) The government is basically letting them do this unchecked. And why? Because people like Warren Buffett and George Soros are so obscenely wealthy that they're the ones who can contribute to both Republican and Democratic candidates, so that no matter what law is passed, there will always be exceptions.

3) Cash hoarding. Other than companies like Apple, who recently had so much cash lying around that they had no choice but to dispose of it before millions of Occupy Wall Street people burned down their headquarters, most of these corporations are so scared that the economy will double-dip or fall back into a recession that they're hoarding cash like rabid squirrels stashing nuts for the winter.

Now the problem in China is exactly the opposite. They are finding people that will run the country for the next 20-30 years and most of these people have a decent job but they have horrendous wages.

I know the "be a good slave" mentality seems to work, because our society tends to shun honesty in favor of positive thinking, and this indoctrination begins at a very young age. Let's face it. Our society teaches four-year olds that there's a choo-choo train that says "I think I can. I think I can." and that's where the brainwashing begins. But I'm not very good at hiding my emotions and as an Aspie growing up with individuals who had derogatory names for me when I would be happy for longer than three or four seconds, I often feel little more than anger or misery.

[CardSharks8689]

I seriously think this job posting is a scam. Some people believe they'll get work, and it may not be a legitimate company but someone posing as a company that people believe and really it isn't.

I remember buying a coupon book in aid of a so-called organization called Youth of Newfoundland Foundation in 1995. They were apparently coupons that were good for Mount Pearl establishments. Well, when I attempted to use a coupon at a Mount Pearl establishment in December 1995, they told me the company didn't authorize such coupons, and it was evident it was a scam. Then, 2 days later, I learned on the news that it was indeed a scam, and anyone who knew of sellers (who made $2 per booklet) for this fake company had to contact the police immediately. It's likely the sellers didn't get in trouble, but the ringleader to this scam could've ended up in prison for this. The sellers may have had to surrender their earnings to the police as a result, and the money would be given back to the customers.

I agree that this requesting of Facebook password and offering a job in return is like fish bait. They're really luring you into possible trouble. Not to mention it's a breach of security and is downright illegal.

[racingchick1020]

First of all, why do you think I'm applying for permanent disability?

You might want to watch out. I have Asperger's, ADD, and Depression... And I'm apparently still capable of holding down a job.

It's even worse when my brother has Asperger's and is able to get money for having a disability. And he's been getting money for a few years now.

[CardSharks8689]

You might want to watch out. I have Asperger's, ADD, and Depression... And I'm apparently still capable of holding down a job.

I also have Autism, ADD, and depression as well. More like ADHD in my case. And I get depressed, just like Charlie Brown is in the Peanuts comic strip, and just like Daria was on the MTV cartoon. I rarely smile or laugh, unless it's stimulated by certain things that cause hyperactivity. Charlie Brown was only happy when he was with Snoopy. And Daria was only happy when she got revenge in some form.

Despite my autism and depression, it's not enough to keep me away from work. In fact, I just recently received a heads-up that I most likely will be extended with my Government job till the end of June (my current contract expires at the end of this month). And maybe I will see where I'll be in the summer - if I'll be at work, or end up on Employment Insurance, going back to the YM-YWCA in the mornings, working on computer games, and watching GSN and TPIR.

Makes me wonder if my mother's - or other people's - sky-high stress levels when I was growing up are to blame for my depression? Or is it due to my attachments or having a very small number of interests and other people trying to get me out of them that's to blame? If so, then I guess if I lose all of my attachments or a lot of them get cancelled or altered by the powers that be, my behavior problems will disappear significantly though I will be very melancholy. But if I fulfill my agenda with overdose of my limited attachments, my emotions towards those attachments will rise, and behavior problems will be continuous with no end in sight. What a sick, sad life I am going through - all because of having limited interests that I want to overdose on. Nothing is ever going to make me happy, it seems. I hope I live as long as my grandfather is.

Ever since I was 3 (maybe 2), I had at least one heavy obsession every year of my life. 30 years ago, I had 7 or 8 interests in my life (all were obsessions). Today, I only have 3, and 2 of them were newly developed obsessions in the last decade. The only interest I had all my life was TPIR, though now it is not the same anymore, and I am not into it as much as I was back when Bob Barker hosted.

It seems as if whatever interests I develop, 99 chances out of 100 it will become an obsession. But at least nowadays, my choices for developing new obsessions is very, very, very little to none now. So there will be some progress in eliminating the behavior issues I have had growing up, but at least my behavior is a lot better now than 15 or more years ago.

[TheNewNeko]

You might want to watch out. I have Asperger's, ADD, and Depression... And I'm apparently still capable of holding down a job.

It's even worse when my brother has Asperger's and is able to get money for having a disability. And he's been getting money for a few years now.

here's a hint Mandy. You can't just apply once. Just like I can't just apply once.

[Melyssa56]

"Want to work here? Hand over your Facebook password.....! "

1. So why does anyone making under $300,000 a year voter for Repulsivecants?
2. I am not involved with Facebook, so if I ever went for a job in the private sector, would I have to have a Facebook page?
3. If so, is there anything that states that I need to use my real name and a photo of myself?
4. If so, which pair of glasses should I wear in said photo -- one of my drop-temples, one of my cat's-eyes, or something else?
5. Would the Weather Channel be okay with that, as all I would be doing is saying a few syllables and pointing to funny-looking ink blots?

[M2nFarisFan]

Well, the thing is this: You can't treat life as one traumatic event after another....because if you do, it will destroy you. I honestly think I have a lot of the symptoms of Asperger's, too, especially the social awkwardness. But most of that is primarily by choice and nurture. I didn't really have a lot of friends when I was growing up, and for the most part, because my Dad passed away when I was seven, I didn't get out to play on the baseball or hockey teams that much. I still don't have a lot of "cue acuity", or knowing when people are upset about something, e.g. empathy. But the difference is I've learned how to deal with that, and TBQH, I can function quite well in the workplace. You can't let a disability get in the way when it doesn't have to. Think of Stevie Wonder....he could have sat and done nothing, but instead, he went and took a musical talent and wrote "Songs in the Key of Life" and "Musiquarium" and "Innervisions".

But anyways, back to topic. I posted this comment to local NBC affiliate WPXI....I think it sums up my argument.

This is a manifestation of how much power corporations hold in this period. For every person that says "no", 100 will say "yes". And trust me, the thing that scares me the most is that they won't stop there. If you Google my name, this post, along with others, will show up with my name discussing this matter - and it is 100% PUBLIC. Also, chances are with people in the 18-30 bracket, you add a lot of people you don't know, simply because they look good. You could have added HR and not known it. The answer is NO, simply because if they want me to act I'm working 24/7, pay me like I'm working 24/7. That means time and a half, Mr. Employer. It will begin to go out of phase when the job market goes up and suddenly, this firm will realize despite good pay and a large idle labor pool, no one will work for them. (Of course, one needs to realize the next thing will be a statement saying "We have jobs! But no one to fill them!" and it will make WPXI as that, and they'll have a well-publicized job fair, and the cycle will start all over again.) As a corollary, chances are if you have a lot of Facebook dirt, you might not be the best employee, regardless. From a cross-section of people I know, if you are willing - even amongst friends - to show yourself drunk, although it may not be the employer's business, odds are you are going to have an eccentricity at most jobs, unless you work for Google or the such.

I think it is kind of poignant to point out that you mentioned China, Neko. I know you have a thing about being against global warming and cap and trade theories. But did you know that China is one of the biggest - and most aggressive - investors in renewable energy? It is amazing how when they want to get something done, they put their full effort in. What takes us 10 years takes them 6 months. The thing is that yea, they don't pay much. But they have a work ethic that puts Americans to shame. As the both of us mentioned before, when we are out partying and "dubstepping", they are at home, studying on the question that made them get a 95 instead of a 100 on the exam. It's the primary reason why they will work for less, because they believe in the quality of their work.

Americans simply do not want that....they want easy money and lots of money at that. Look at the iPhone and iPad. I have the 4S with Siri. If you've ever used Siri, it epitomizes the American persona. You don't have to push any buttons to call your family. It will remind you to take your meds at 8 am. Heck, it will even call you "sweetie" if you want it to. Whatever happened to actually having a notebook or an address book? And the truth is that it's southeastern Asians who are building them. You can't help but wonder what kind of eagerness they have to watch us buy 25 cent things at Walmart and $649 iPhones that will probably wipe our rear ends in the next generation. It's not un-American to say these things, but simply a wake-up call.

I will say that (except for the potshots at Pittsburgh), I agree with a lot of the things you've said in your post, because it is, unfortunately, the truth. I'd also be as bold to say that if fifteen companies wanted you, chances are someone's willing to give you a chance. I've read enough of what you've said on here to know you're capable, Neko, but at the same time, you have to get out of the loop of letting a Steelers/Penguins obsession and posting on here ruin your life. Truth is that employers can see some aspects of your life regardless of Facebook, and in general, you have to be careful what you say and do online. Even what I say here can be seen by employers if I post the right information.

[racingchick1020]

here's a hint Mandy. You can't just apply once. Just like I can't just apply once.

What the hell am I supposed to do? I've had people who said I was very confident that I was getting SSI, but apparently you have some people who think that I'm not. I could go see nine different doctors, and I wonder if their opinion will differ.

[TheNewNeko]

What the hell am I supposed to do? I've had people who said I was very confident that I was getting SSI, but apparently you have some people who think that I'm not. I could go see nine different doctors, and I wonder if their opinion will differ.

Mandy, You apply over and over and over again until the government finally pays you just to get you to quit applying, which is what I'm going to do.

And as to Steve-o... What I'm saying is that, similar to how you believe my anger is an issue, I also believe your hubris and overall condescending demeanor towards other people will also be a hindrance against you. Last time I checked, no one wants to hear you think how much you're God just because you follow the Steelers or the Penguins. If you haven't been projecting this attitude towards your superiors or co-workers to this point, much like holding in a gigantic fart (since both your hubris and the CH4 used to make the methane in a fart are made out of hot air), it's only a matter of time before it comes out. And that's going to affect your ability as well to hold on to a job.

I was once told, ages ago, when the term was less offensive, ten tips for being able to hold on to a job. However, the terminology used, specifically a very derogatory racial slur, would make giving you this advice as impractical and borderline offensive. So to be fair, I'll take out the offending term and tell you them.

1. Be a good slave
2. Be a good slave
3. Be a good slave
4. Be a good slave
5. Be a good slave
6. Be a good slave
7. Be a good slave
8. Be a good slave
9. Be a good slave
And if you know #10, you're more intelligent than your H.R. Manager.

Oh and to correct your little thing about how somehow, me openly admitting I'm not a Steelers or Penguins fan is somehow keeping me from landing a job, let me tell you that I detest the fanbase more than the actual team. Keep in mind that the fanbase projects this image that because the media kisses their rear ends and fawns over them that they are superior to other people. And as I said before, similar to a man picking up a Ford F-150, it makes you wonder if that gentleman is overcompensating for other shortcomings in his life if they have to live vicariously through a sports team.

To show you the difference between the two, let me give you a clear contrast. Say someone from the Penguins was traded to the Red Wings, or even maybe the Flyers. I would hold no ill will towards the new player, and would hope he would bring the Stanley Cup to said city.

Now say that a bus of Steelers fans with two empty seats was to drive off of a cliff at 100 mph and catch fire. I would be sad, because there were two empty seats.

[M2nFarisFan]

Despite the fact that I feel like ranting, Big Steve, I want you to read your response again and see exactly why I said what I did. You sure do know how to turn "I agree with you 95% and am giving you advice" into grounds for an insult. By your measurement, I've already lasted twice as long at my current job as you averaged. So I must be doing something right.

Take it this way: You can be angry about things, but you have to choose your outlets. Am I condescending at work? Never. Do I let it out 'round a pitcher of ale at Primanti's on a Friday night? Absolutely, as do most people. Stress is a normal part of life, Big Steve. Most of the successful people in life are so because they can handle it - and use it to their advantage. You pride yourself in being an American, and highly conservative. Did you know the first President of the Republican party, Abe Lincoln, lost his first four elections for a Senate seat? He could have given up and said "(f-bomb) it, I'm a loser". But no, he didn't.

And I know that just because you don't agree with my sports values, it doesn't make you a bad person. What does, though, is how you come across in your beliefs to others. Like I said before, read your response to my post and see why I said what I did. If it doesn't make sense to you, I will say a prayer that it will someday, because it's to your own benefit, Big Steve. And I'm not a praying man, either.