With many students applying and interviewing for summer internships and jobs, Career Services recently posted a warning on their BlitzMail bulletin advising students to think twice about the information they make available about themselves online.
"Many employers are now using Facebook[.com], MySpace and Friendster (and more) as a decision-making tool when hiring for internship and full-time opportunities," Associate Director of Career Services Kathryn Doughty wrote in the warning.
While Career Services maintains that the College strongly believes in the freedom of speech and expression, it stresses the importance of taking caution when posting questionable information and pictures on the Internet.
"You don't want to lose out on a great internship or job over something that could have been prevented," Doughty wrote.
Concerns about the public nature of the content of the Facebook.com and other such sites, however, are certainly not new. National attention was brought to the issue last October after a student at Fisher College was expelled for his affiliation with a Facebook.com group that criticized a campus security officer.
Dartmouth's notorious Facebook.com groups include: "Organization of People Who Steal Food From Dorm Refridgerators," "I Pre-game for Everything (Dartmouth Chapter)," "I Hate Girls Who Wear Low Rise Jeans and their Fat Rolls Over" and "Marijuana Legalization League."
Stories of Facebook.com persecution are becoming increasingly common on college campuses nationwide as more and more law enforcement officials have begun to use Facebook.com to monitor the illegal activities of students.
Although Hanover Police Chief Nicholas Giaccone and College Proctor Harry Kinne denied the use of Facebook.com to monitor students in a recent issue of The Dartmouth, Kinne did not rule out the possibility of doing so in the future.
The Career Services bulletin stressed that even sites like the Facebook.com, which require a school e-mail to login, are still easily accessible to the general public. While some students still think that only students and alumni of their particular institution are able to view their profiles, most employers are able to access the profiles of candidates with the assistance of current or former interns, Doughty wrote.
"Employers now have access to 'the real you,'" warned Doughty. "This is a good thing if information on your site is tasteful. It's a bad thing if you have information and/or pictures that show you in a negative light."
Many students, including Ben Mandel '09, don't find it surprising that employers use Facebook.com. "What is surprising is that people know this and do not change their wall and profile in accordance with this knowledge," Mandel said.
"I try to keep my Facebook as PG as possible. I don't like to put up photos or information that could indicate that I'm of lesser moral standing than any other applicant for a job," said Jon Hopper '08, who recently removed himself from "I'm Not an Alcoholic, I'm a Drunk," the Facebook.com group he created.
Despite Career Services' warning, however, some students remain unconcerned about the possible impact of their Facebook profile when applying for jobs.
"While I suppose I should be a little nervous about being judged for my membership in the group 'I Pre-Game for Everything,' it's not a major concern of mine," Dunia Rkein '08 said. "I'm just not yet convinced that something as insignificant as a Facebook.com profile would actually sway a company's decision to hire me."
