Next time I interview someone for a position at my company, I'm going to ask them for their Facebook password. If they give it to me, they will be automatically disqualified from the hiring process for lack of common sense.
Regardless, I bet that any predictive relationship between willingness to divulge a Facebook password in an interview and the ability to perform adequately as a software engineer is weak at best. To me, an employer who doesn't understand that shows poor capacity for unbiased reasoning.
Easy examples off the top of my head:
- You cultivate a profile almost like a garden, knowing that one day an employer is going to demand to see it
- You started one, but don't use it
You need a job and are given to believe that you won't get the one you're interviewing for if you don't hand over your password.
People regularly do all kinds of demeaning things because employers ask/demand them to.
You need a job to pay for those things.
With that said, I definitely understand why an applicant would be offended by the question. In fact, I would hope they are! I guess the second test is seeing if they understand the logic of such a question then convincing him or her that I don't conduct myself this way.
In the right hands, this is a great tool, but in the wrong hands, it is a disaster.
Secondly, it would be setting the bar way too low. I don't appreciate being congratulated for not being an idiot. Someone congratulating me and actually being impressed of that fact makes me think less of that person.
A pretty bad start to a supposedly long relationship, if you ask me.
What if your prospective employee asked you to sign a NDA with regards to any personal information he may or may not reveal, before the interview started. How would you view them then?
Reason I ask is there be companies that will find away around law's and will ask you to sign a NDA during the interview stages and this is accepted in general. Does focus the aspect of what happens at work stays at work and what happens at home stays at home, somewhat.