Last week I wrote about an unfortunate incident where a person was fired over Facebook for an unruly update. Well forget that for a while because your unruly update could lead to your house getting robbed (via Mashable):

The concept is backed up by recent statistics from British insurance and investment management firm Legal & General, whose survey found nearly 40% of social networking users share holiday plans on sites like Facebook and Twitter. They also found about 13% of Facebook users and 92% of Twitter users tend to accept friend requests or follows without checking up on the source. Read more…

I’ve heard many things that would surprise you about what employees say and do to their bosses, especially after work hours. I had a friend once tell me that they were at a bar where this person was telling this story about how he continued to sabotage his boss at work and that it was finally beginning to pay off. When the guy telling the story mentioned where he worked, it wasn’t too long until it got back to me.

Yes, HR people have friends.

But this is beyond stupid. Ranting about your boss on Facebook when he is connected with you on there? Check out this story:

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Many people looking for positions are considering relocation and some of those people are finding difficulty from HR not wanting to do relocation (especially when a person can be found at the local level). Everyone (and I mean everyone) assumes it is the cost of relocation that is so off putting to companies. Let me tell you something: that’s not the (biggest) issue.

The biggest issues to me are threefold: Read more…

I am a huge fan of social media. Whether it be blogs or networking sites like Facebook or Twitter, I love the fact that I can interact with a lot of people I never would interact with otherwise. It opens up a world of knowledge.

There is also an opportunity for companies and people to make serious errors when joining the fray of social media. And when a major mistake is made, it gets blown up online (sometimes more so than necessary). There are some really simple things you can do to make sure your social media experience is the best it can be.

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Whether you are a vendor or attendee, a regional or national conference in the niche you are working in is a great opportunity to meet face to face with others in your industry. Many people do not make the most of this opportunity simply because they choose not to prepare properly and make the most of their time. Since both Crimcheck and I are going to be at the SHRM annual conference, I thought I would highlight some things I have done to prepare for the conference:

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So you’ve graduated and you’ve got job offers lined up. Optimistic in this economy, right?

Okay, so eventually you’ll get a job that you’ll actually need a degree to be qualified for and they’ll check with your school to make sure you passed all of your classes. Or maybe not. Many of the companies I’ve worked with don’t verify educational requirements at all. And this trend has led to a dirty little secret: resume fraud.

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I went to Las Vegas last week and had a great time.

No, no, not that type of great time. More like we went to shows, we gambled, we ate a lot, drank some and hung around the pool with people who are much prettier than I am. And no, I didn’t get tan at all. What a waste.

Anyway, Las Vegas sort of embraced its seediness with an ad campaign developed several years ago that what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.

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I’ve given a talk to several hiring managers at the importance of mistake free hiring. Not once has anyone taken this seriously. They say it is impossible. They say the study of human behavior is an imperfect science. They say there will always be mistakes.

I say that is nonsense! Of course mistake free hiring is possible and it happens every day. The question is, how do you define a mistake in a hiring process?

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One of the worst parts of being in HR is laying people off. People always ask me what the worst part of HR is if it isn’t laying people off. Informing someone of a death is much worse in my opinion. You haven’t lived HR until you have to do that. Believe me.

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If you are an HR person or a hiring manager, do you owe it to your company to Google candidates and get as much information as possible about them? The question may not be as easy as you think as Kris Dunn explores on Fistful of Talent. He gives you three reasons why you should:

1.  You are an agent of your company - it’s your job to get the inside scoop on candidates.  The world’s not always a happy place.  Put your helmet on and get in the game.

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