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Want a Job? Better Rethink that Facebook Profile
Psychology study reveals pitfall in social networking.
May graduates take note. In addition to spiraling stocks and mass layoffs there’s one other hurdle to landing a job after college: Facebook.
When it comes to finding employment, the less you reveal about yourself—that is, beyond the basic information contained in a good resume—the better, according to preliminary results from a psychology study. Employers deluged with personal information both relevant and not are less likely to make wise hiring choices.
“At this point I’d put all of your (Facebook) privacy settings as much as you can, or don’t have your Facebook profile up when you’re searching for a job because it appears that if they do have that extra information, even if you’re an excellent candidate, your chances of getting chosen will go down,” says Paige Deckert, a senior honors student in psychology who conducted the study with help from Professor Neal Roese.
The study, in which 115 students acted as potential employers—prior studies have indicated that students and employers would make basically the same decisions in this regard—demonstrates the dilution effect, which says that decisions are more likely incorrect when too much information (i.e., favorite movies, favorite songs, best vacations, etc.) is in the mix.
The dilution effect has played a role in understanding consumer behavior but Deckert, who will pursue a doctorate at Penn State in industrial organizational psychology, decided to test it in the uncertain place where employment intersects with Facebook.
“(Employers) start thinking more about the fact that the candidate had a Bob Dylan quote in his profile than the fact that he had a 3.8 GPA in business,” Deckert says. “They start thinking about them more specifically and it can just distract them from the information at hand.”
Roese adds that an ideal follow-up study would test judgments by actual human resource managers.
By Dave Evensen
May 2009
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