That being said, when I see tweets and blogs about professionalism in the workplace and in your online persona, I tend to disagree with a lot of the comments. Everyone seems so afraid of posting something, saying something, doing something, or crossing someone that will ruin any future chance of getting a job, landing an internship, or making it in whatever industry we end up choosing. I don't think this mindset is warranted.
Without getting too specific here, let's just say I think it's pretty hypocritical of people to call someone out for being 'unprofessional' when said person is simply doing what all of us do, or what all of us have done in the past.
People who work hard tend to play hard. I don't think we need to censor ourselves and pretend that everyone in the world is an angel. Hell, I'm more suspicious of someone without a blemish on their record. Squeaky clean is boring. I like people with an edge.
We've been talking a lot about professionalism when we're not in class. Whether or not, in the future, a tattoo will screw you over, whether tweeting the wrong person will screw you over, or whether posting a questionable picture will screw you over, and I don't enjoy the self-censorship that we're being conditioned to live by.
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| Okay, now call me hypocritical, but I might not hire this dude... |
Not saying we shouldn't watch what we say, not saying we should spew whatever pops into our minds 24/7, and not saying there should be no accountability for our online personas. People need to be held accountable for their actions.
After the 2012 Presidential Election, "Hello There Racists" was set up to publicly shame certain people for things they've posted online. That kind of pure, racist, ignorant hatred needs to be stopped by any means necessary. That's not what I disagree with, though, I disagree with all of us censoring aspects of who we are because of fear of some sort of future retribution.
I get why we do it, though. I understand that having a public persona these days means potential employers can look you up, see what's on Twitter and Facebook, and then decide whether or not you'd be a good fit for their company. So we present a facade. We create a hologram. We are misrepresenting ourselves in order to fit the mold that, we think, will allow us to be accepted and, eventually, hired.
Now, no, you don't want to be smoking meth, attacking people, and/or being a racist bigot - but employers need to take a step back and realize that who someone is online is not necessarily who they are in real life, and that goes both ways. Get to know someone before you judge who they are online. You might be surprised at what you find.
We all hide aspects of who we are, and I honestly value people more when they aren't afraid/ashamed of the things they've done, or afraid/ashamed of who they are deep down.
Cheers to those people.
There are some things that should just not be publicly said and that should not be said to certain people. That said, I think people should express themselves on social media sites. If we misrepresent ourselves and an employer thinks we're a good fit for a job, what happens when our true selves come out? We become liars with a job that doesn't suit us. I'm not going to censor myself online. If an employer doesn't like what I have to say publicly then I'm not a good employee for them and I'd like to find that out before giving them my time and effort.
ReplyDeleteAgreed.
DeleteLove it.
I sure hope that all the people who partied as hard as some of us (those from the 70's and 80's that are potential employers) are thankful that Facebook didn't exist during their teens and early twenties. Would make for some good pictures.
ReplyDeleteThere's some pictures of my parents that fit that exact bill. Amazing.
ReplyDeleteI think I agree with your principle, but I don't think there is any way to actually change the system.
ReplyDeleteWe can change it. Eventually, we're going to be the ones running things.
DeleteDon't forget your convictions and don't forget your principles. Don't give in and don't sell out.
;) Eventually, "the system" will be what we make of it.