Forums / Discussion / Serious Debate

We all know about it. When you've handed your resume in and perhaps after you do an interview, chances are the potential employer is skulking around your online stuff to find something incriminating to find an excuse not to hire you. So obviously, you'd want to separate the two.

I'm currently unemployed, but hopefully within the next month or so, I'll have a job. But obviously, during an interview they (probably) ask you for online information, specifically social media, including Facebook, Twitter, perhaps even Tumblr. First off, I can understand wanting your Facebook, and maybe twitter, but your Tumblr? Doesn't that get a bit too personal? I myself draw lewd pics and post them on Tumblr, so obviously I'm not gonna give them that. That would be the first step in separating the two. But I have heard that lying about what social media you do and don't have is actually a big no no. You have to give them everything… as far as I know. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

…But what about one's chosen career? The one they'll have for the rest of their life. I'd like to get into voice acting, so let's assume I become a successful VA. I'd have to try really fucking hard to keep my online and real/business life separate so no curious fans stumble across the sin I've drawn.

..But at the same time, do employers really have a right to snoop around? Is it even difficult to separate the two? Why should I have to? Wouldn't it be easier to just tell people to get over it?

Not a single employer has ever asked me for a social media link, I don't think that's very likely unless it's a social media/etc job or maybe if the hiring manager is younger (but then they should also not be a dickbag about it). I post an awful lot from my facebook/etc under my real name which could be super easily found just by Googling my name if anyone ever bothered.

You don't have to give them the link to anything (put yo privacy settings on), but they don't have to offer you the job unless you do if that's how they want to do things.

Don't have a Facebook, and don't have a Twitter or Tumblr with any significant activity. Every single one of my other online accounts is anonymous and thus has deniability.

For the time being, I've basically got to do this anyway. Under MS House Bill 1523, I don't have the right to employment anywhere in the state.

Verbose/The Teal Deer and my "IRL" identity are a bit tied. But intentionally so.
 
In my case, the jobs I'm pursuing are professional in nature. I'm more likely to do desk and research work over my time working than use any particular talent. But I decided to allow myself a compromise.

After coming to the personal realization that my geekier interests might actually be able to help me land work and connections in 2013 (when I graduated from college and in part from my experience here on KYM,) I decided to just combine most of my social media accounts. So I (believe I) deactivated the Verbose Twitter and just started following some SFW geeky stuff (e.g., Nintendo). But there are some things I don't follow just because it's not as important for me to follow and because there's a potentially vicious stigma to deal with (e.g., MLP, fanservicey anime, etc.)

After getting a decent feel of the different jobs I might have and what sort of appearance I'd need ot maintain, I don't think being a gamer or enjoying some anime will keep me from getting a job in areas I really want to work. But I'm as cautious and deliberate as I was before in determining what I'll let my Twitter, Facebook, and others directly associated with my name be attached to.

I also take the interface of the site into account. I've got My Little Pony Liked on Facebook, but I wouldn't for Twitter. Part of that is because Facebook has more detailed privacy settings, and part of it is that some MLP stuff would be easier to explain off (i.e., "I enjoy the memetic phenomenon of My Little Pony and seeing how it develops.") than others (i.e., "But why do you have a fan art site Liked as well?")

Part of it is that I don't care as much. But it's easier to say, because none of those interests are malicious or so off-the-wall that it's a dealbreaker by itself in most cases.

Now in your case where your stuff is NSFW, that's a bit trickier. Like you saw, I didn't directly Follow you on Twitter for Miitomo, because it was pretty obvious that your account was NSFW. The tweets aren't protected, and you don't have to search very hard to find things that would be negatively perceived by most. If someone has one post with boobs and and nipples on them, then that'd be one thing. But even one very active Followed account with a decent amount of suggestive furry art would make an intern looking at my online presence look even harder for other "telling" disqualifiers.
 
But let's say I did have a darker side, and I enjoyed unsavory art.
 
Well, I'd just make a separate identity that isn't tied to my real name or Verbose at all
Whereas I talk a lot under Verbose, I don't talk, comment, or anything under another account.
Whereas my IRL name and Verbose makes sense, my username under another account makes no sense whatsoever and is not easy to remember.
I'd keep a profile with no avatars and the default themes.
I'd utilize sites that can hide Favorites/Likes/Upvotes/etc. so that even what I acknowledged wouldn't be easily seen. Or you'd have to have your own account to even find the account I'd use and then you'd have to figure out that "8h376tr" is actually Verbose/me.

Basically, I'd make a separate account and not ever, ever connect it to the ones that are more public and/or associated with me.
 
Now if the job is highly visible, then the team of people who are good at finding anything they want about you will find what you're looking at or posting online regardless of what you do. So if you've already been searching for the art, then just hope they don't care or hope they decide not to look that way. Your other option is to remove yourself from it entirely for a few years and hope it doesn't come up in the investigation for you.

Of course, that means you won't be posting that art online anymore. So you have to take into account how important those things are compared to the work that you get.
 
I will say this though:
I think you'll stress yourself out a lot about what can happen but may not be likely to happen if you worry about it too much. But there's a chance that if a company really wants you (and connections where you already have the job if you want to take it are generally the best way to get your dream job or be on the path to it), they'll overlook it until someone else brings it up.
 
Which brings me to a last bit of information or tip:
Don't give people a reason to dox you. If you do good work, and you're a decent person, then a company that needs you will overlook a lot.

• Joe Paterno, one of the most storied college football coaches and was an actual living legend, enabled a child molester for years at his school to abuse children in the school showers. He wasn't outted for his compliance until the actual molester was found out. But Penn State, the school he was a coach at, probably already knew.
• A more relevant one would be Allison Rapp. Nintendo knew she was a pedophile/child "sexuality" advocate, and they probably knew about her night gig as a risque model. They just didn't care until it was made into a big thing.

In both of these cases, big entities just kept both on the down-low. If you're needed enough, then they'll do the same for you. But a lot of that means you can't haphazardly tell someone off. If you get the wrong person mad who has a friend who can dox you and can attach you to anything and everything you've ever created and posted online, then they can ruin you at the apex of your desirability.
 
 
So if you're doing your dirt, make sure it's not antagonistic (i.e., NSFW art), and don't get someone mad at you unnecessarily (so they won't have an irrational, emotional reason to see you ruined.)

I have no presence on any of the mainstream social media sites, and I keep everything else under a pseudonym. So unless an employer knows both of my online names (this one and another for "seedier" sites) and can link me to them then I have my hands clean.

For starters, it depends on what kind of job you're applying for. In the FBI, for example, they dig deep (duh). My friend Johanna applied for an FBI job a couple years ago. The person investigating her went into her dad's background – he used to be a park ranger. He went back to her dad's workplace and drilled his former co-workers for information about her.

But let's keep it simple for now. If you're applying for a simple job, in retail, you don't need to separate it that much. You just need common sense. Personally, I've never had a potential employer ask about my Facebook. They might have searched my name, but my account is private.

As long as you don't post anything "antagonistic" (i.e. don't call Obama the N word on a Facebook status), I think you'll be okay.

Simple rules to follow and nothing will ever happen ever. (most of the time)

First off hiring managers really don't give af about things like facebook and shit and while it CAN fuck you over if you FRIEND your coworkers, in terms of hiring it's not really a reliable review of character. For example, just think about how many "John Smith"s there's going to be on Facebook. Once a hiring manager meets you, they're going to have a much better judgement of your character anyways.

Usually when they background check you they're background checking you with legitimate background checking agencies and possibly an online lookup. But honestly most of the time it's a huge fucking hassle to do it on your own.

Some companies are weird as shit though. I didn't get involved in this personally but I was told at my job with a shit company called Portrait Innovations that people could get in trouble for merely saying they worked there on Facebook. That company was shady as shit though.

Friending your coworkers on facebook can definitely be a problem though, and I would not recommend it unless you're friends with them out of work as well. And I mean real friends.

Second, in the rare instance that it's actually relevant, just use common sense. Keep most of your facebook private to your friends. Don't use your real name for your personal tumblr blog where you post all your fetish porn. Don't advertise yourself unless you have a reason to. Don't be a fucking retard and you'll be just fine.

Third, focus more on shit that's actually relevant to your job, interview and all that over fretting over social media. Unless you've pulled a grandma and literally used every single account ever with your first and last name, and your location, to the city… it means nothing.

Ok, that makes sense. Would you suggest I should quit while I'm ahead and just fully focus on my voice acting? Give up the art?

I wouldn't go THAT drastic. If you simply separate your private work from your professional work and it doesn't conflict with your employer's noncompete agreement or employee conduct then you should be fine. Simply removing your job title from your more personal stuff can help prevent you from misrepresenting your employer and hurting your professional career.

Also get a professional email address. I feel like that shouldn't need to be said but it can REALLY help your resume from getting tossed in the trash when it is firstnameMIsurname@whatever.com instead of a long hard-to-spell screename. Had to tell this to a friend the other day so I'd imagine it is something a lot of people overlook.

Nothing outside of Facebook has my real name tied to it.

I did that specifically to avoid this kind of situation.

My name is extremely common, so they can't claim that it was me if they somehow find one of my many accounts anyways.

I also have a seperate email for professional use, since my personal one probably wouldn't look very mature on a resume.

Your call. But if I were you, I wouldn't stop doing your art at all, and I probably wouldn't stop sharing it for a couple of reasons:

1. You can just "separate" your accounts. Like others have said, if the people searching for you want to find something, they'll find it no matter what you do. But if you separate the accounts and don't give people a reason to out you, then a basic search where you're not connecting the two identities won't yield anything.
2. If you're serious about doing voice work, then you're expected to be an artist, and artists are well-known freaks the people working with you are probably going to be less uptight about you being an artist who draws smut. And you might get a gig where you're asked to read an erotic novel for an audiobook, or you might land a voice doing something like Drawn Together, which might be one of the most gross shows ever, animated or not.

I have no Facebook, my LinkedIn is a guarded secret only my most trusted of friends know of (and which has no connection to my dragony alter ego), and all other online profiles are of my alter ego. No IRL Blitz to be found.

I have Facebook but nothing on there would be incriminating at all.

It's not too hard. I have "personal" profiles and "internet alias" profiles. If they ask, I'll give them the ones with my real name that I hardly ever use (it's been over a year since I last posted on Facebook).