Frankly, I’m amazed at all the good press about BeKnown, the new Facebook app for professional networking and job search by Monster. The privacy implications for employed job seekers are terrible!
If you currently have a job, DO **NOT** USE BeKnown!
Be warned! When I joined BeKnown to look around so I could write this blog post, BeKnown published this announcement on my Facebook Wall:
YIKES! Good thing I’m not a job seeker with a job to protect and an employer or co-workers checking out my Facebook Wall! My “secret” would be out! Yes, you can delete that first post, but what about BeKnown’s next one! And the one after that…
When an employer finds out about an employee’s job search,
that job seeker is frequently terminated!
Employers are, often rightly, worried about loss of clients, business secrets, insider information, etc. when an employee leaves So they pull the plug on that job-seeking employee as soon as they find out about the job search, sending them out the door quickly before much damage can be done.
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Facebook does have a very impressive number of members - 750,000,000! Should be great networking? However…
If you currently have a job, that big Facebook network means a greater probability that your boss – or the HR manager or someone else working the same place you do – will see news about your job search! You know what usually happens next.
Facebook is the foundation of BeKnown. But, it has a record for ignoring or abusing member privacy.
Monster/BeKnown
When you join, BeKnown requires your permission for ALL of these Facebook functions to be visible/accessible by BeKnown:
- Access my basic information.
Includes name, profile picture, gender, networks, user ID, list of friends, and any other information I’ve shared with everyone. - Send me email.
BeKnown may email me directly at [choose which address to use]. - Post to my Wall.
BeKnown may post status messages, notes, photos, and videos to my Wall. - Access my profile information.
Interests, Current City, Website, Education History and Work History. - Access my photos and videos.
Photos Uploaded by Me. - Access my friends’ information.
- ‘About Me’ Details.
We’ve seen how BeKnown used this permission to introduce their service to all my friends via my Wall. How will all that required sharing help you and your job search?
My recommendation is to stick with LinkedIn for now, particularly if you have a job to protect.
If you really want to use Facebook for your job search, check out BranchOut, which seems to be more respectful of privacy. Eventually (hopefully!), BeKnown will catch on that this announcement is not a good idea and stop doing it, or at least make it optional.
LinkedIn Is for Serious Business Networking and also for Job Search
On the other hand, if you have a job and want to keep it, LinkedIn is the social network to use. LinkedIn helps you do your job better by increasing your professional connections for both your work and your job search. It will also privately show you jobs that might be appropriate for you, who in your network works at those employers, who’s left that employer, and who’s a new hire.
- The Company Profiles and Company Follow functions are very helpful for both job seekers and business people!
- The Groups and Answers offer everyone excellent opportunities to network professionally with peers, potential customers, potential clients, potential co-workers, and potential bosses.
- Learn more through LinkedIn’s tutorials, like this one for job search – http://learn.linkedin.com/jobs/
Yes, careless job seekers can “out” their own job searching on LinkedIn, too, by changing their Professional Headline to “Seeking employment as…” or by asking questions, starting discussions, or making comments about their job search. But, those situations are job seekers being dumb, not situations in which a very powerful 3rd party purposefully exposes job seekers activities to the world at large.
StartWire Is for PRIVATE Job Search Networking
StartWire.com is relatively new, but created and managed by a smart and experienced group specifically to help job seekers with their job search, including private networking.
StartWire is NOT an “app” on Facebook or on anything else. Use StartWire to set up your private network. StartWire IS growing fast among savvy job seekers, with good reason.
Bottom Line
If you don’t have a job or if you are a new grad looking for that first “real” job, perhaps BeKnown can work for you, at least for a while. But, think about it – can you trust Facebook with your job security? I sure wouldn’t use BeKnown if I had a current job I wanted to keep a while longer.
© Copyright, 2011, Susan P. Joyce. All rights reserved.
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About the author…
Online job search expert Susan P. Joyce has been observing the online job search world and teaching online job search skills since 1995. Susan is a two-time layoff “graduate” who has worked in human resources at Harvard University and in a compensation consulting firm. In 1998, her company, NETability, Inc. purchased Job-Hunt.org, and Susan has been editor and publisher of Job-Hunt since then. Follow Susan on Twitter at @jobhuntorg.
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[...] we’ve found, thanks to Job-Hunt.org, a serious flaw in the BeKnown [...]
Hi Susan,
My name is Sami and I’m a community manager for BeKnown and wanted to clarify few things. BeKnown is a professional networking tool rather than just a job-hunt mechanism. Successful professionals know that job hunting isn’t something you do when you decide that you’ve outgrown your current position. It’s something that you do constantly through building your network and expanding the opportunities that you have available to you. Good bosses know that their employees are using professional networking sites. They’re using them too. So really, there is nothing to be concerned about here. Being part of professional networks is a norm. It doesn’t mean you’re looking for a new job.
Please let me know if I can answer any other questions for you.
Thank you for joining the conversation, Sami. I don’t disagree with anything you say about professionals networking. It is very important for career management, job performance, as well as job search, and I think it will grow in importance, and acceptance, over time.
I do, however, definitely disagree with you that “there is nothing to be concerned about here.”
Because:
1.) Not all bosses are “good bosses” who understand social media and professional networking are not causes for concern, necessarily.
2.) Since BeKnown is from Monster.com, one of the oldest and best-known brands in job boards, people will assume that members are job hunting, at least in the beginning (now).
3.) Employers DO terminate employees they suspect are job hunting. They always have and probably always will. This is one of the reasons job boards offer job seekers the option of a “Confidential Resume” as described in this post on Monster today, Keep Your Job Search Secret with These Tips.
4.) Many employers are developing policies about employee use of social media. And they aren’t necessarily fans. This is a new field, and I don’t think many courts have addressed this issue (free speech vs. ?). Have you read some of the social media policies on SocialMediaGovernance.com? Very interesting reading.
Thanks for your comment!
Susan
Full disclosure: I co-founded ConnectHive.
Susan, I think you missed the point on this one. While ConnectHive is a competitor of BeKnown and BranchOut, I do not think you give BeKnown and BranchOut more credit as a professional network/platform. There are other reasons for being on these networks other than directly searching for a job. For example, someone in sales might browse their connections to see if they have a connection at a company that they are calling into to help get their foot in the door. I think it would be a mistake for an employer to fire someone simply for installing one of these applications.
Having said that, you are right in that BeKnown and BranchOut today are primarily job boards with social gimmicks and games to make them more “viral”. At ConnectHive we are taking a more holistic approach. We choose to build ConnectHive outside of Facebook, allow our members to create a robust professional profile for personal branding purposes, and are really focusing on uncovering the hidden or unadvertised jobs to make our members successful in not only landing a job, but building their career.
I hope this makes sense,
Andrew
Thank you sharing your perspective, Andrew. I do understand the importance of social media and networking for both career management and job search. And it will become more important in the future. ConnectHive sounds interesting.
Many employers do NOT yet understand how this world works, however, so I still think that employed job seekers must be careful to protect their jobs.
Thanks for your comment!
Susan
High five sister! Beknown gave me great pause when I saw your post on your wall that Beknown posted. I stayed far away because I just don’t care for the way Facebook is spreading themselves to thin.
Dear Facebook, How can you expect to be an expert when you are leaving what you do well! There is no reason to control the world badly but there is reason to do something well!
Thanks for taking the hit for all of us Susan!
High five back at ya! And thank you for the support, Kimba!
Thanks for your comment!
Susan
Susan -
When I attended BeKnown’s pre-view press conference, I asked the Monster representatives about how they plan to position this network — as a “job seeker” network or, like LinkedIn, as a way to professionally network via Facebook. They explained they hope people see this as a way to professionally network on Facebook, regardless of their job seeking status. Granted, the relationship with Monster makes this a hard sell. Remember, LinkedIn was once seen as “job seeker’s network,” too.
I did not experience anything posted to my Facebook wall when I joined; maybe it was a setting that needed to be changed during the joining process? It is important for everyone using social networks to recognize their information is never totally private. Certainly, currently employed job seekers need to be extra careful when they network online. Hopefully, the pros of interacting online outweigh the cons in the long run.
As you say, Miriam, the relationship with Monster makes seeing BeKnown as only professional networking, unrelated to job search, a very” hard sale.” Not impossible with time, but not there yet.
I don’t remember LinkedIn being viewed as a site for job search, and I’ve been a LinkedIn member for a long time.
A MediaBistro editor described having exactly the same experience I did in this MediaBistro article – an immediate Wall post announcing that she had installed BeKnown.
I expect that when you joined, during the pre-announcement phase, they did not have the announcement auto-post because it would have “let the cat out of the bag” before the official announcement was made public. Proving that they DO understand the power of Facebook.
Whether there has been a change in the last few days or not, posting this announcement is not a good idea. If an average job seeker, not terribly familiar with Facebook, joins, I suspect they’ll have the same experience that MediaBistro and I did. And, if that person has a job to protect, this is not a good thing
Monster/BeKnown can fix this easily by offering new members the option of allowing them to make the wall posting. BranchOut did offer me that option this afternoon when I joined BranchOut to see if they make the same kind of announcement. They would like to do it, but they offer their users the ability to opt-out.
Thanks for your comment!
Susan
Susan,
Is it safe to assume that you do not belong to LinkedIn? I found my last three employees though jobs I’ve posted on LinkedIn.
I am not for things auto posting to my wall, either, but it looks like from your wall post that BeKnown says you installed a Professional Networking App – that connects Facebook and business contacts without mixing business and friends, and NOT a job hunting site. Also, it says nothing of Monster.
I have not tried to app, and actually found your post after looking for more info about the perks, etc. Of course, I wanted to read why you should not install it, and I found your post not very helpful (any FBer knows how FB permissions work.)
And as an employer at an events firm, I would hope my employees are networking their little butts off any way they can.
Thanks,
Ali
Ali,
I’m happy to hear from an employer who wants her employees to be networking! Professional networking has many benefits for both employees and employers, as LinkedIn has been proving for many years. And, yes, of course I am a member of LinkedIn.
Let me be clear: my concern here is NOT with “professional networking.” It has certainly helped my business.
My concern IS that the “auto posted” announcement done by Monster/BeKnown to each new member’s Wall may cost some people their jobs, or at least put them in hot water with their employers. These may be “less enlightened” employers, but those are probably the majority of employers out there.
1. You say that you “are not for things auto posting to my wall, either.” So we definitely agree there.
2. In the BeKnown announcement, Monster’s own CEO calls BeKnown “an extension” of Monster’s commitment to helping job seekers and employers. So, the goal of filling jobs is clear.
3. Since BeKnown is an app from Monster – look at the bottom of the home page if you aren’t sure – one of the best known brands in online job hunting, I think that many employers will assume job hunting is the goal.
BeKnown competitor BranchOut gives new members the ability to “opt-in” to the announcement. LinkedIn gives members control over what is posted about them. Monster/BeKnown does not. This is a competitive disadvantage for Monster/BeKnown.
I think you would be more concerned if, someday, a departing employee takes some client lists or other confidential information with them. Other employers who have experienced this “dark side” of employees leaving are less tolerant of employee job search activities, and that is what worries me about Monster’s “auto posting” their announcement.
If they stop the auto-posting, it would probably be fine.
Regards,
Susan
Thank you for an interesting discussion.
Here’s our take at Monster: If you’re friends with your boss and other colleagues on Facebook, letting them know that you’ve joined a professional network (one that will help you develop your career and connect with other people in your field) will benefit you. Considering the other things many people put on their Facebook walls, it sort of seems like the last thing a person should be worried about.
In fact, if you’re friends with your boss on Facebook, we strongly recommend inviting him or her to join you on BeKnown after you’ve joined — because it’s a great place to connect with new customers, clients, industry influencers, and new employees.
Looking for a job is only one of the many benefits BeKnown provides. Yes, it allows you to show off your skills and background — like posting an online portfolio or resume does. But we developed BeKnown to be a full-fledged network that also allows users to connect with like-minded people — to learn from, share with, and help one another.
As we often advise job seekers, if you “network” only when you’re looking for a job, you’re doing it wrong.
And as we often advise our employer customers, retaining great employees is not something they can be complacent about. We think that employers are smarter than you give them credit for. The ones I interact with (and I interact with a lot of them) don’t assume that an employee won’t be wooed away by a great offer, even if that employee isn’t “actively looking” (and according to a widely reported on Monster.com poll, 98% of workers said they would at least consider a new job opportunity). That’s because, of course, in addition to those resume- or portfolio-hosting sites, and in addition to professional-networking platforms, those employees have real-world networks of friends, past colleagues, former college mates, and so on — and on and on.
To our way of thinking, joining BeKnown — and inviting all your colleagues and contacts to join you there — can only benefit employees and bosses.
Charles,
I appreciate your input and agree with you 1000% on the importance of professional networking. Build the network BEFORE you need it! Absolutely correct!
Yes, as you mentioned, people do post “other things” on their Facebook Walls that are inappropriate. However, I do not believe that individuals exercising poor judgment authorizes BeKnown to impose a potentially similarly inappropriate item on all new members.
In the age of “permission marketing” and Google, auto-posting your announcement is NOT the “right thing” for Monster/BeKnown to do. MUCH more appropriate to allow new members to choose whether or not to share the news that they have joined.
Thank you for your comment.
Susan
[...] Susan Joyce, of Job-Hunt.org posted some privacy concerns regarding BeKnown that job seekers should consider before using the app. More here. [...]
Facebook should not be the place to maintain your career relationships. Fortunately, google+ might give some fresh air in this field and the circle mode is good for privacy protect.
Interesting comment, Dennis. I have very limited experience with Google+ so far (recovering from a bad cold right now), but everything I’ve read says it’s a big improvement on Buzz.
Thank you for your comment!
Susan
Susan,
I completely agree with you, although I disagree that BranchOut is better…I’ve found them to be far worse! Sharing anything on your wall should be completely at your discretion. As career coaches, we give all sorts of advice to job seekers about what not to put out there in public, and if they are already employed but looking for something better, the installation of a job searching application is definitely on the “not” list!
You might be interested in the other applications out there that I recently reviewed: http://www.businessinsider.com/job-searching-on-facebook-there-are-many-apps-for-that-2011-7
Heather
Thank you, Heather!
Have just joined BranchOut, primarily to see if they do the same kind of required welcome message as BeKnown, and they don’t which is a point in their favor. I haven’t delved further into how BranchOut works, yet.
Great article in BusinessInsider on the Facebook job search apps! That was on my to-do list, but already well done by you.
Thank you for your comment!
Susan
Susan,
As usual, we can depend on you to source and explain much of what’s going in social media as they relate to the job search.
I have read the comments and realize there are pros and cons when it comes to these social media tools, but giving over control of ALL areas of one’s FB Profile to BeKnown or any other medium, would certainly be of great concern to me. Professional networking – YES, but why have access to my friends’ information?
That said, I don’t know enough about BeKnown, and am going to take some time to review it, but I believe it should offer an opt-in/opt-out feature in all areas of one’s profile. Call me a control freak, but I want to know I have control over what people post to my wall and what others see.
The Monster/BeKnown people are watching so I am sure they will be doing some modifications based on the feedback they are getting.
Thanks for the awareness you bring,
Daisy
Thank you for the kind words, Daisy!
I think we should all follow your advice and take time to evaluate what we are doing with social media. There are so many choices, and most of us have only a limited amount of time to spend on them. So the apps and venues that will succeed are the ones that are easiest to use and most trustworthy.
Thank you for your comment!
Susan
The way I see it, the wall post says it all “the professional networking app on Facebook” – think LinkedIn for Facebook.
If you’re connected with your boss on LinkedIn and I know very few people who aren’t, you’re connected via a professional network. BeKnown is a career networking app, just like BranchOut and a post saying you’ve joined a professional network doesn’t necessarily mean you are job searching. And there are jobs posted on LinkedIn, as well on Facebook, but I don’t know anyone who presumes that you’re activitely job seeking because you’re on LinkedIn.
There are many other Facebook apps that do much more than post a badge – including apps that post jobs to your wall. What I always recommend is that job seekers adjust their privacy settings before they start using them (http://jobsearch.about.com/od/jobsearchtools/a/facebookapps.htm) professional connections and potential employers aren’t viewing too much of your personal information.
In my opinion, if you’re friends with your boss on Facebook, there’s a lot to keep in mind – simply posting on Facebook during working hours could cost you your job. It’s really important to carefully adjust your privacy settings to control who sees what on your wall and to be careful about what you like or don’t like, and everything else you do or say on Facebook.
I agree with Miriam that employed seekers need to be careful – with everything they do online. There isn’t much that’s private anymore, even when you’re careful about it and the walls between personal and professional are going to continue to tumble down.
Alison,
I just don’t see this as 100% the job seekers’ responsibility, particularly given Facebook’s reach combined with the complexity and quirks of Facebook’s privacy practices.
I also do NOT trust ALL employers to be tolerant of their employee’s social media activities, particularly those related to job hunting.
If someone does a Google search on “BeKnown,” the first 3 entries on the Google search results page describe it as a professional networking app. Then, the snippet describing the 4th entry says that BeKnown is “an easy way for job seekers to search for and apply for jobs without leaving Facebook.”
The remaining search results, except for a Wikipedia entry, reference Monster and/or Monster’s new Facebook app in the snippets or the headlines.
So, if an employer doesn’t know what BeKnown is, the Google search result tells them it’s from Monster, one of the biggest brands in online job search, and that it’s a way for people to job hunt on Facebook.
It won’t take a rocket scientist to connect those dots and figure out that the employee is job hunting, or, at least, thinking about job hunting.
That’s why I am still recommending that employed job seekers should NOT use BeKnown.
I don’t understand why it would hurt for BeKnown to ask permission first, to show that BeKnown understands how to respect personal privacy. BranchOut asks. Monster/BeKnown does not.
Thank you for your comment!
Susan
Hi,
This is the best debate I’ve read on the subject. I wonder what the chances are that a product manager from Facebook is working on their own version of a job search or referral app right now.
Facebook must be watching all these recent moves very carefully. You can also safely assume that linkedin’s valuation metrics wouldn’t go unnoticed by the board as they contemplate their own ipo.
You’d have to think it’s a question of when rather than if they’ll make their own big move in the recruitment space. Any Facebook product manager going to give us an exclusive here
John
I’ve been thinking the same thing, John. When will Facebook make this move and blow away BeKnown, etc.? It’s an interesting question.
Thank you for your comment!
Susan