Last week I hosted the 10th Annual HR conference at the Ritz Carlton here in Grand Cayman and we invited a 

number of international speakers to attend. One of whom was Ryan Kahn, host of MTV's HIRED program (@hired). Ryan spoke very well about the engagement of the Millennial's and it did strike a chord with me that we are turning to Facebook and LinkedIN to reference these Millennials more and more. It also occurred to me that companies are rejecting candidates based solely on what they see in an individual picture and very little is done to educate clients about "context" and what is acceptable. Obviously pictures of an incriminating nature ca

n only be taken one way, but is drinking or smoking socially acceptable behaviour? Especially as you are looking into someone private life?

I did a little experiment earlier today, I randomly picked 10 candidates from our database and "Facebook-ed" them, 7 out of 10 of the profiles were unlocked and all their pictures were accessible. Of that 7, 5 candidates had pictures on their sites that I would not want my future employer to see. They weren't bad or socially vulgar but they showed individuals in states of undress or intoxicated or visiting the playboy mansion etc.. etc... 

So although we have done it in the past we now have a corporate policy to advise all candidates on their social profile ensuring that they lock up their accounts so that only friends can see them. I also endorse educating clients not to take things out of context and really ask themselves is the picture reflective of their brand i

f its out there.... It raises so many questions... especially when some companies are now asking for access to personal facebook accounts! Which again raises many legal issues....

So in summary the enclosed picture made me laugh, I found it on Pintrest and it prompted this missive! Happy Friday