Employers use Friends Reunited as “third reference”

NEWS Jobseekers should be careful about what they post on school reunion web site Friends Reunited because some employers are using it as a "third reference", according to recruitment companies. London-based agency Media Contacts claims the popular site, which allows people to hook up with their first girlfriends and gloat over the misfortunes of old school acquaintances, has led to candidates losing job offers. Gordon Cherrington, a recruitment consultant at Media Contacts said: "People should think carefully what they say about employers - past and present - and themselves in any online public domain. Having fun and demonstrating a sense of humour is in general a good thing, though negativity in any form rarely reflects well on the writer." The company decided to warn job seekers about the pitfalls of advertising themselves too honestly after a number of candidates had their job offers withdrawn or were forced to quit when comments they published on the Friends Reunited Web site were revealed. According to Media Contacts, an account manager for a "well-known" PR company was pushed into resignation after her bosses discovered that she described her boss as a "bitch from hell" and her employers as "a bunch of cowboys". A senior sales executive was apparently sacked from his job after it was discovered that he only got his last job by "lying through his teeth at the interview" and admitted his CV was "a masterpiece of fiction and creative writing". Another example of honesty not being the best policy was when a media sales executive had a job offer withdrawn when the potential employer discovered that the applicant only planned to stay in London for a few months before embarking on a world tour. Munir Kotadia writes for ZDNet UK