Is your job opportunity at jepordy?

It is really good to hear that others are aware they need to keep their profiles under control and make sure that they are appropriate for their future. Women already have a tough time trying to break the glass ceiling, but with posts and pictures online from say a “girls night out” might affect how the employer thinks of you. Women need to show that they are able to handle anything a man can (which I believe we can!), so posting pictures or statuses that show weakness or too much of party girl can really jeopardize a job opportunity; especially if the employer already doesn’t want a woman in charge. We really need to be careful what kind of view we put out to not only friends and family but to the general public as well. This is the main reason I try to stay positive in my posts as mentioned before.

There is a lot of risk for women posting pictures online, because nowadays with photo shop and all those other applications, there are many ways for a decent appropriate picture to be completely changed. This can affect your view in the workplace because with technology these days, pictures/posts/rumors spread very quickly. It isn’t just about how you post or what you post, it also depends how your audience interprets it.

Stalking is a very big issue with online posting, I am glad you brought it up! The issues with stalking arise from the initial view someone has on your profile. If they find you interesting, attractive, or even if your information is easy to access, they could start cyber stalking you. Cyber stalking fact: 1/12 women will be stalked in their lifetime. This number is a few years old, but I can imagine it has gotten worse due to the increase in availability of information online. Stalking can tie in with surveillance and whether or not you know it is happening. Anything you post online can be seen…even with our securities. I personally don’t know how they exactly do it, but hackers can access almost anything. It is even possible to access your cell phone if it is somehow connected to facebook or twitter accounts.

Starting fresh could definitely help when applying for jobs. As you pointed out you never know what might offend someone, but really if we thought about everyone and how they would react to what we post then we wouldn’t be able to post anything!

It is extremely difficult to make everyone happy, but all you can do is try. If you are careful with what you post and try to make sure that it isn’t badly directed at someone or something then you should be okay. Now, I do believe that companies should look online to see potential employees, but they shouldn’t use it as their way of determining whether or not that individual gets the job. Everyone has something someone won’t like on their profile, but that doesn’t mean they would be bad at their job.

Example:

A woman is applying for a job and has all of the requirements and more. She has years of experience, has the education behind her, and fantastic references. The employer decides to look online to see a bit about her personal life. They notice that she had recently gone out with friends drinking and looked pretty drunk. Now, this employer does not like this because they view it as she is irresponsible and puts personal life before work and likes to be wild and party.

Now this is a bit extreme but it can happen! Especially if the employer didn’t want to hire her in the first place for some biased reason. 

Overall, I must say my only advice for not only women, but for men too is to

BE CAUTIOUS

You never know who is looking at your profile…

http://womensissues.about.com/od/violenceagainstwomen/a/CyberstalkingFS.htm

Privacy!

It is very difficult to strike an appropriate balance within social media as the lines between public, private and personal are blurred. In fact, even the line between personal and business is hard to see. The first thing that I do is confirm the appropriate settings on each website. My decision on settings will depend on the intended audience (viewers) as well as how easily the information can be accessed by others. I believe checking your settings right from the beginning is very important because you want to make sure that information you want to keep confidential does not end up being leaked. For example, on Facebook I can choose who views my profile, and who I want to block from certain things. There are custom settings on Facebook so that I can control each individual’s view of my profile. Twitter on the other hand is public. Tweet once and it can be re-tweeted in perpetuity. With Twitter, there are no custom settings for what the public views. Anyone can “follow” me and see everything I post, so I find I have to be a lot more careful with the things I say. Balancing between public, private, and personal takes time and a lot of thought. You always have to reconcile the benefit of the particular media with the associated risks. But this is just me! I suppose that if you don’t mind everyone knowing everything about you all of the time then don’t worry about restrictive settings.

However, you always have to be concerned at the prospect of identity theft. The more people know about you the easier it is for them to pretend to be you. This can have very serious consequences. Another example of people choosing their security settings is Youtube, as stated in the article “Publicly Private and Privately Public: Social Networking on Youtube”. Some people want lots of people to view their video and post comments, so they will expand the audience allowance. Whereas some people only want that video to be seen by people they are friends with, so they will limit their audience. It goes to show it really is a matter of the level of comfort for the person posting. It is always about balancing benefit and risk. In my view, the risks associated with not arriving at the appropriate balance are greater for women and even more so for women in business. It is hard enough to be successful in a male dominated business world without your competition knowing every little detail of your personal life. My advice? Never ever mix business with personal in the world of social media.

Youtube is a good example of how a lot of people protect their identity because they don’t want people knowing too much about them. In the article “Publicly Private and Privately Public: Social Networking on Youtube”, it is mentioned that most people use Youtube because they want to stay in touch with friends at a distance, and that it is a way to find common interest with new people. Most people will use the username method of protection but they are also picky with what video they post or comments they make. The want to make sure what they are doing is appropriate but also something that other people will like; which is the main objective. Another way people protect their identity is they just don’t tell the truth. There was a survey done in the article “Social Network Sites: Definition, History, and Scholarship” that shows 34% of teens have online profiles that are public, and within that 46% of them have lied about something in their profile. This survey proves that even if someone is comfortable to have their information public, it doesn’t mean that they are telling the whole truth just in case. Again, for a woman in the business world, you have to be extra careful with what you post, where you post it and most importantly how you present yourself. The best resume, interview or reputation in the world can be totally undermined by a single inappropriate post.

Now, I understand that even if it is a private profile and I have settings to restrict who can view my personal information, that there is such thing as participatory surveillance. As stated in “Online Networking as Participatory Surveillance”, is when mostly friends are checking up on your profile and what you have been up to. This can be jokingly called “creeping”, but it is a very common way for friends who don’t talk often, to keep up-to-date on each other’s lives. I know, I do it; do you? In this case I know that anyone who is my friend can be looking into every bit of my info. This is why I always make sure it is updated, accurate, and appropriate. I am always trying to balance the benefit of participating against the risk. Ultimately, we have a choice not to participate. In some cases, it is the best course of action.

Women in the Workplace

Welcome to my blog! 

The topic I chose to discuss is ‘Women in the Workplace’. I chose this specific topic because it is a subject that I can closely relate to and have strong feelings about. I am in Business Administration at Brock University and am looking forward to a career in business full of challenges and opportunities. It is incomprehensible to me that my success or reward would in any way be limited simply by the fact that I am a woman.

A few things that I will be discussing in my blog are the inequalities that continue to exist, the compensation differences between genders, the different issues within different industries, how women managers are viewed and the views of woman managers. Traditionally, it has been very difficult for women to advance their corporate careers due to the “glass ceiling”. This is a term used to describe the invisible, but very real, barrier that prevents women from reaching senior positions that occupy the top floor of a corporation; an invisible barrier to reaching the top of the corporate ladder. Over time, this barrier has been penetrated many times by exceptional women. However, the glass ceiling has yet to be shattered. There are still a multitude of challenges and preconceptions facing women in the workplace. The “glass ceiling” is still intact. Compensation and opportunity are the central issues. Women are presented with fewer opportunities and when they do manage to attain a senior position they are compensated at a rate that is less than a man in a similar position.

 Corporations, and in fact entire industries, treat genders differently and if you examine specific situations the differences are readily apparent. The differential treatment begins at the recruitment process where structured interviews are systemically tailored toward the selection of men for senior management positions.

Much progress has been made toward the ultimate goal of full equality for women in the workplace. However, anyone who thinks that we have achieved the desired outcome is only fooling themselves. There are still a great number of industries that have traditionally been the domain of men which continue to resist attempts to achieve equality. My blogs will discuss the reasons for continued resistance, how successes to date can be leveraged into further success, and what the benefits are to full equality. Ultimately, we will discuss what it will take to achieve true equality. 

This is a very open topic and I would love input! 

I will touch on these topics and keep up-to-date on current related issues.

Below are some blogs, hashtags, and websites that are related to my topic. Feel free to check them out!

Take care!

Shannon

http://dmerrillsands.wordpress.com/tag/women-in-workplace/

http://thegirlinhr.wordpress.com/2013/05/07/career-coaching-advance-how-to-advance-your-career/

http://balancingwoman.wordpress.com/2013/05/06/accomodations-for-women-in-the-workplace/

http://www.canadianlabour.ca/news-room/editorial/women-workforce-still-long-way-equality

http://www.mbaonline.com/resources/online-guide-to-women-in-the-workforce-past-and-present/

#genderdiversity

#genderequality

#idealism2action

#equalpayday

Intro

My name is Shannon and this is the beginning of many blogs to come!