According to a new report, job seekers may very well be getting asked to cough up one of their most sacred things – the password to their Facebook accounts. First and foremost, it’s a bullshit invasion of privacy. Second off, if hiring managers could see 99% of what lurks in the dark recesses of our Facebook profiles, there’s no conceivable reason we’d be asked back for a second interview. Umm, not me tho. I’m good.

The pre-employment monitoring and exploratory exploits of HR associates, hiring managers, GMs and the such put us at an unfair disadvantage – realistically, what good can come out of monitoring what a prospective employee does when they’re off the clock? Resumes and CVs, fine. I totally understand exactly what they’re looking for in a candidate when those finely crafted, often embellished pieces of paper are handed over. Interviewers are looking for firm experience, work ethic, a collection of job titles, duties, and timeframes in which you, the candidate, were employed. That’s all well, good, stand-up, and understandable. It’s necessary to glean this information to make an informed decision prior to hiring someone. There’s that.

But how exactly would you feel if you coughed up the password, allowing a hiring manager to peruse thru your pictures; your sacred (and usually thirstbucket-laden) inbox; clicking thru each and every comment that you’ve made in the past few months? Oh, and all those pictures of you in the club, shitfaced and half dressed? Yeah, I’m sorry, but if employers saw half of the things we’re involved in OUTSIDE of work, we probably wouldn’t be allowed back in.

This exchange of information, unfortunately, leads to pre-conceived notions of your ability to function in a day-t0-day job – now you’re looked at as a liability. The thought process would be, “If hired, how reliable can [insert name] be? (S)he goes out 4 nights a week drinking – is she gonna call in on Fridays or Mondays consistently?” Well, that’s just a little fucked up, right? It’s an invasion of privacy. That’s why I leave all my personal life’s exploits outside the revolving door, to be summarily scooped back up at 5:01 when my Nikes shuffle back out to the parking lot.

I’m all for information, being hip to shit, but this whole conversation is absolutely an employment killer. I know a lotta people nowadays rocking fake names on Facebook, so they can slide under the radar of prospective (and current) employers, so their drinking, whining, personal lives aren’t exposed to someone that may or may not control their income. Job seekers – if employers ask for your Facebook/Twitter password, give em the gas face and take your talents elsewhere. You won’t regret it.