Notice to Job Candidate Screeners
This is for all of those who are reading this as prospective employers, considering me as an employee. I don't hide this journal, so I know you can easily find me with even the simplest internet search of my name.
I just wanted to save you the time and trouble of searching this journal, trying to see if I would post anything that you may think makes me a poor employee. There are two types of posts that employers would typically search for to weed out candidates. At least from my perspective.
First, you will be looking for anything I may have written that denigrates the company I was working for. That makes total sense. You don't want to hire someone who doesn't take their complaints to you but rather tries to hash them out with public assaults. I understand that, and you won't find anything like that here.
Second, you will be looking for things that make me look like someone who doesn't make good choices in life. These are the "questionable" posts, the posts that may contain drinking or drug use or nudity or just simple stupid behavior. It's the search for these posts that make me question your ability to be an effective employer, and if you are looking for these kinds of posts, you may as well eliminate me from your search. I don't want to work for you.
Why?
It's simple.
I'm a human. And you are looking for people who never make mistakes. You are looking for a person who always has 100% perfect judgment with respect to their future selves. You are looking for someone who can look back on their past and say "I never did anything wrong, ever!" In fact, I'd say you are looking for someone who isn't you.
If you can honestly say you have done nothing wrong - if you can tell me that you never dinged a car in a parking lot and drove off without leaving a note, if you can tell me that you put your shopping cart back correctly every time, if you can tell me that you never mutter under your breath at the person in front of you in the checkout line, if you can tell me that you have never taken the change when the cashier gave you too much, if you can tell me you never avoided anyone's phone calls - then you are a much better person than I am, obviously working at a much better company with values too saintly for me to live up to.
But if you are honest about who you are, and about who all people are, then there's no point in looking any further in my journal. Just call me, and see if I am a good fit as an employee based on my skills as a writer.
I just wanted to save you the time and trouble of searching this journal, trying to see if I would post anything that you may think makes me a poor employee. There are two types of posts that employers would typically search for to weed out candidates. At least from my perspective.
First, you will be looking for anything I may have written that denigrates the company I was working for. That makes total sense. You don't want to hire someone who doesn't take their complaints to you but rather tries to hash them out with public assaults. I understand that, and you won't find anything like that here.
Second, you will be looking for things that make me look like someone who doesn't make good choices in life. These are the "questionable" posts, the posts that may contain drinking or drug use or nudity or just simple stupid behavior. It's the search for these posts that make me question your ability to be an effective employer, and if you are looking for these kinds of posts, you may as well eliminate me from your search. I don't want to work for you.
Why?
It's simple.
I'm a human. And you are looking for people who never make mistakes. You are looking for a person who always has 100% perfect judgment with respect to their future selves. You are looking for someone who can look back on their past and say "I never did anything wrong, ever!" In fact, I'd say you are looking for someone who isn't you.
If you can honestly say you have done nothing wrong - if you can tell me that you never dinged a car in a parking lot and drove off without leaving a note, if you can tell me that you put your shopping cart back correctly every time, if you can tell me that you never mutter under your breath at the person in front of you in the checkout line, if you can tell me that you have never taken the change when the cashier gave you too much, if you can tell me you never avoided anyone's phone calls - then you are a much better person than I am, obviously working at a much better company with values too saintly for me to live up to.
But if you are honest about who you are, and about who all people are, then there's no point in looking any further in my journal. Just call me, and see if I am a good fit as an employee based on my skills as a writer.