Pimp Your Finances

Contrary to popular belief, there is only one world.

Many people seem to think that there are in fact two worlds; the real world, and then a separate and unrelated internet world, full of privacy, funny status updates, and LOL catz.

Some people act like the two worlds are parallel to each other, and thus never intersect.

Unfortunately, that’s just not the case.

Exhibit A: the banking fairy

Once upon a time, there was an intern with a great position at an international bank. On October 31st, he called off of work for a few days, claiming a family emergency.

By the next morning, pictures of his “family emergency” were on Facebook. And so were his co-workers.

Here is the response he got from his boss:

And if that wasn’t enough, his boss BCC’ed the entire office in the response.

Exhibit B: Epic medical fail

In 2008, a 21 year old call center employee called off of work. It seemed believable enough, as he was actually allowed sick days per his contract.

However, he was confused when his HR department asked him for a doctor’s note.

Our tragic hero replied via an email:

1 day leave absences do not require a medical certificate as stated in my contract, provided I have stated that I am on leave for medical reasons.

The response from HR?

Usually that is the case, as per your contract. However please note that leave during these occasions is only granted for genuine medical reasons. Your line manager has determined that your leave was not due to medical reasons and as such we cannot grant leave on this occasion.

The hero’s response:

My leave was due to medical reasons, so you cannot deny leave based on a line manager’s discretion, with no proof, please process leave as requested.

By now, you can probably guess where this is going. Here is HR’s last response:

I believe the proof that you are after is below

The hero’s response to HR?

HAHAHA LMAO epic fail

 

Exhibits C-F

In case you still need incentive to maintain your privacy online, here are a few more reasons:

• How to lose your job in 140 characters or less
• Prison official sacked after befriending inmates on Facebook
• Facebook post gets NFL worker fired
• Facebook entry gets office worker fired

What to do to keep it from happening to you

There is a multi-level approach to this.

First, don’t brag about how drunk you got online, and don’t ever say anything about your employer.

I know that’s a lot to ask for some people, so I have another suggestion: don’t friend any co-workers, ever. And make all of your profiles private. Here is how you do it on Facebook (again, this will only help you if you haven’t friended co-workers):

1. Click on the “Settings” menu in the upper right corner, then choose the “Privacy Settings” option

2. Click on the “Profile” link

3. Make sure every possible option looks like this:

4. Go back, then click on the “Search” link. Make sure all the options look like this:

 5. Realize that this isn’t fool proof – people can still see personal info about you, especially if they’re your friend. That’s why you should never ever add co-workers as friends. Also, always assume that someone can read or see what you’re doing. If you don’t put anything controversial online, you can’t get in trouble for it.

Too many people are far too careless with the info, pictures, and stories they post online. It can come back to haunt you, and it can cost you your job.