I'd personally be a bit surprised if a friend who I hadn't listed on a job application was randomly contacted by a potential employer.
Has this happened to any of you? It doesn't seem unethical but is definitely a little sneaky.
Has this happened to any of you? It doesn't seem unethical but is definitely a little sneaky.
The job search should be at least semi-private. My LinkedIn network are work connections. If I'm leaving my current employer the last thing I want is for someone to contact my manager's best friend or a customer that my current employer is trying to close a deal with ("Oh Ken's leaving? Why? What's wrong with the company? Did he say?").
Especially in the valley, the circles are a lot tighter than you think -- and if you're doing blind calls there's a good chance you just made my prospects at my current job very uncomfortable.
This is a horrible practice and I'd say that I'd recommend to anyone to avoid this place -- unless you're currently unemployed or just don't care.
Also, if someone cold called or emailed me about someone, the first thing I'd do is contact the person in question and let them know someone was snooping about them. I definitely would not answer any questions -- especially if I had a high opinion of the person.
The name of my child is public record too. So it's OK for you to go by his school and ask his teacher how I am as a parent?
There's a lot of public information that exists. Those who have the inability to recognize that there exists a line between simply unethical and illegal are people I'd prefer not to associate with -- much less work for.
Using information I've published to the world on a website, I think is probably not.
Contacting your parents and elementary school classmates is fine for an FBI background check as part of getting a top secret clearance. Key elements of that is they tell you in advance they are going to do so, get your permission, and what they find out is held in strict confidence by people trained to keep sensitive information secret. That's not at all the case with random employers calling up people they find you socially linked to.
// not sure if this is a reflection of the techno-cluelessness of the legal system, or a very astute/cynical technical assessment of Facebooks so called security.