Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Yesterday, I found that the ABM position had been posted for the University City branch again. Weird... it was less than 6 months ago that I interviewed there. I didn't apply right away and instead contiplated for a while... Did I not get the job because the manager really thought his "guy" was the better candidate? Did he think I wouldn't be able to tolerate the commute? Did he think I wouldn't fit in? Now that I've met him, do I think I'd thrive under his direction? How well would I actually handle the commute? Will my car survive that commute for at least 6 months? Am I certain I really want it? Eventually I acquiesced and applied. This afternoon, J casually asked me if I'd seen any new jobs posted in the area lately (he's still trying to get a promotion somewhere closer to his home north of here). I told him about University City. Boss, who was sitting nearby jerked his head in my direction, wide-eyed and frozen. "What?"
He seemed to actually be in shock for a moment. "WHAT? What's wrong with the University City job?"
"OMG, I think I got their ABM fired."
As it turns out, Boss happened across a Facebook post about a month ago by the University City ABM. The idiot had his profile set to public (so, no, Boss was not "friends" with this guy on Facebook). In this post, Idiot tagged himself with the Places feature, at work--and tagged a co-worker, no less, with the comment: "Counting cash in the back."
Now really, people. I can see how if your job was to write random computer code or ring up groceries, or some random job like that, it may not have occurred to you all the ways that Facebook could get you fired. Lots of companies have strict rules about not posting anything online anywhere about the company. Personally, I find most rules are far to restrictive (infringing on First Amendment rights) and go beyond simply protecting proprietary information. I am not supposed to write anything online about work. But I do, in very general terms, because work is a part of WHO I AM. I'm not an FBI agent, I haven't taken an oath of office! But the banking industry IS subject to a WHOLE lot of regulations, and an enormous part of those regulations have to do with privacy. I get that--because trust me, sit me down with a bottle of wine and I could gossip for HOURS about all the dumb shit I've seen people do with their bank accounts. I won't, though, because that violates the law, and it's just bad business. I also don't think that there's any need to hide the fact that I work at a bank, as Boss seems to believe. But in the interest of adhering to the rules, I never mention the company name, and also don't mention the name of Major Retailer, in case my privacy settings ever fail and someone can search my posts (you know corporations actually hire people to search for things people have written about them online).
So, back to my point: "Counting cash in the back." I'm wondering what part of this post did Idiot think was OK? First of all, tagging yourself at work, while working: you're not supposed to be using social media at work, Dumbfuck! Second of all, posting something about work, BY NAME on a PUBLICLY shared profile: why not film yourself all day and post it on YouTube, too? Because now everyone who's seen the post now knows your exact location, the exact time, and that you work in a bank, you are with one other person, and you have (presumably) a very large amount of UNSECURED CASH under your control. A bank robber's DREAM--no casing necessary, it's all right there on Facebook for anyone to see!
*sigh*
So Boss, not intending to Narc on anyone, while in a casual conversation with Lenny (the now regional VP north of all of us), mentioned what he'd seen, because he thought it was a security risk and wondered what the company policy must be for such things. Lenny made no statements that led Boss to believe he'd be checking into it. But here we are a month later, and the job is open.
Boss actually felt quite bad about it for a moment. I pointed out that if it was a public profile, then surely Boss wasn't the only employee who saw it, especially since Boss isn't even friends with either of the employees tagged! No need to feel guilty about this one, I told him--Idiot signed his own fate without any help from anyone else. If Boss wasn't the one that alerted higher-ups, it almost certainly would have been found by the Corporate "Net-Hunters" anyway.
He seemed to actually be in shock for a moment. "WHAT? What's wrong with the University City job?"
"OMG, I think I got their ABM fired."
As it turns out, Boss happened across a Facebook post about a month ago by the University City ABM. The idiot had his profile set to public (so, no, Boss was not "friends" with this guy on Facebook). In this post, Idiot tagged himself with the Places feature, at work--and tagged a co-worker, no less, with the comment: "Counting cash in the back."
Now really, people. I can see how if your job was to write random computer code or ring up groceries, or some random job like that, it may not have occurred to you all the ways that Facebook could get you fired. Lots of companies have strict rules about not posting anything online anywhere about the company. Personally, I find most rules are far to restrictive (infringing on First Amendment rights) and go beyond simply protecting proprietary information. I am not supposed to write anything online about work. But I do, in very general terms, because work is a part of WHO I AM. I'm not an FBI agent, I haven't taken an oath of office! But the banking industry IS subject to a WHOLE lot of regulations, and an enormous part of those regulations have to do with privacy. I get that--because trust me, sit me down with a bottle of wine and I could gossip for HOURS about all the dumb shit I've seen people do with their bank accounts. I won't, though, because that violates the law, and it's just bad business. I also don't think that there's any need to hide the fact that I work at a bank, as Boss seems to believe. But in the interest of adhering to the rules, I never mention the company name, and also don't mention the name of Major Retailer, in case my privacy settings ever fail and someone can search my posts (you know corporations actually hire people to search for things people have written about them online).
So, back to my point: "Counting cash in the back." I'm wondering what part of this post did Idiot think was OK? First of all, tagging yourself at work, while working: you're not supposed to be using social media at work, Dumbfuck! Second of all, posting something about work, BY NAME on a PUBLICLY shared profile: why not film yourself all day and post it on YouTube, too? Because now everyone who's seen the post now knows your exact location, the exact time, and that you work in a bank, you are with one other person, and you have (presumably) a very large amount of UNSECURED CASH under your control. A bank robber's DREAM--no casing necessary, it's all right there on Facebook for anyone to see!
*sigh*
So Boss, not intending to Narc on anyone, while in a casual conversation with Lenny (the now regional VP north of all of us), mentioned what he'd seen, because he thought it was a security risk and wondered what the company policy must be for such things. Lenny made no statements that led Boss to believe he'd be checking into it. But here we are a month later, and the job is open.
Boss actually felt quite bad about it for a moment. I pointed out that if it was a public profile, then surely Boss wasn't the only employee who saw it, especially since Boss isn't even friends with either of the employees tagged! No need to feel guilty about this one, I told him--Idiot signed his own fate without any help from anyone else. If Boss wasn't the one that alerted higher-ups, it almost certainly would have been found by the Corporate "Net-Hunters" anyway.
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