The Message

Please keep in mind that any opinions, points-of-view, comments, or other content which I post to this site are mine and mine alone. They in no way reflect the views of my employer, my country, my dog, or anyone else you can think of.

To paraphrase Monty Python, “That is the theory that I have and which is mine, and what it is, too.”

Background

It seems as though many people are scared to post their real feelings on the internet because a current or potential employer might find it, especially since many job sites even about the practice and include statistics on the snoops. Frankly, if an employer is going to hunt for information that shows that a [prospective] employee is human, and judge or punish him/her because of it, then they have problems. We all have feelings about one topic or another. We also have personality traits that align or clash with others. That’s what it means to be an individual. Any rational person should know that business and personal are two different things. A person shouldn’t have to keep themselves bottled up just because someone in charge has a different opinion on the subject.

I understand discussion about illegal or questionable topics in a positive light would be a cause for concern. However, does this really matter when it comes to job performance? If an individual happens to be a military weapon aficionado, does that make the person a militant? Can you safely assume that you have a complete picture of a person strictly by what they post online? What if that person happens to have an internet alter-ego that in no way reflects what they do in “real life”? Even better, how can you be certain that the identity of the author is the person in question? Unless you have access to the IP address, and you know that the IP matches the IP owned by the person at the time of posting, how can you be sure? It’s easy for a troll to run around pretending to be someone else. I know of people that have been affected by this exact behavior. It’s not fair to assume anything a person does online would be a reflection of that person in the workplace.

Another off-limits topic is company bashing. If a retailer wrongs you, you can easily bash them all you want without repercussions. BUT… the same does not apply to a [former] employer or another employee of said employer. Why is this? It’s simple: They are scared of being found out by their clients or any other interested parties. Doesn’t that show that something needs to be improved somewhere? You aren’t even allowed to tell your current employer if something is wrong without fear of being terminated. The only thing you are allowed to report is illegal activity. Hostile or incompetent activity, or even flawed procedure, is not a valid reason for complaint. All of these complaints are grounds for termination. To top it off, all termination agreements have a clause about keeping your mouth shut regarding the company and its employees. If that clause is breached, they can sue you! If a prospective employer reads anything bad about one of your former employers, they will most likely find a reason not to hire you.

So what can one do? Blog about everything else and hope that an employer can see that you are human and have your own opinions and feelings about whatever topic you happen to be writing about. If they are “concerned” about anything, maybe they’ll have the guts to question you about it — and not ask you to stop.

Everything I post up here is of my creation. It is where I can put my thoughts out for the world to see so that I can feel like someone is reading what I say (and possibly caring about). Otherwise, I’d feel so bottled up that I just might explode (which would be worse for an employer). Sometimes they can be good things, and sometimes they can be bad. Since I do not have any real-life friends (where do you find them out here?!), the internet is my sounding board.

Respect my opinions, and I’ll respect yours. That’s all I ask for.

For a related webcomic, check out Dreams on xkcd.com.