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recommendation to constitute a misuse of position because the recommendation is readily <br />understood by users of the social media service to be personal, rather than official, in nature. An <br />employee should not, however, affirmatively choose to include a reference to the employee's <br />title, position, or employer in a recommendation, except where 5 C.F.R. § 2635.702(b) expressly <br />permits such references. <br />4. Seeking Employment Through Social Media <br />The basic provisions governing seeking employment are set out in subpart F of the <br />Standards of Conduct. For these puiposes "seeking employment" includes not only the l�inds of <br />bilateral employment negotiations that would implicate 18 U.S.C. § 208, but also certain <br />unilateral expressions of interest in employment by the employee. Specifically, in addition to <br />actual negotiations, as described in section 2635.603(b)(1)(i), seeking employinent also includes <br />unsolicited communications by the employee regarding possible employment, as described in <br />section 2635.603(b)(1)(ii), and any response by the employee, other than rejection, to an <br />unsolicited overttue from a prospective employer, as described in section 2635.603(b)(1)(iii). <br />See OGE Informal Advisory Opinion 04 x 13. <br />Employees who are seelcing or negotiating for employment through social media must <br />comply with the applicable disqualification requirements of 5 C.F.R. § 2635.601, et seq., <br />18 U.S.C. § 208, and any additional requirements found in agency supplemental regulations. <br />Public financial disclosure filers who are negotiating or have an arrangement concerning future <br />employment or compensation also must comply with the notification requirements found in <br />section 17 of the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act of 2012. See 5 U.S.C. app. <br />§ 101, note; OGE Legal Advisories LA-13-06 and LA-12-01. <br />An employee is not considered to be seeking employment with any person or <br />organization merely because the employee has posted a resume or similar summary of <br />professional experience to the employee's personal social media account. Likewise, an employee <br />is not considered to be seeking employment merely because a person or organization has viewed <br />the employee's resume on that social media account or has sent an unsolicited message, <br />including one containing a job offer, to the employee. An employee who receives an unsolicited <br />message or job offer is seeking employment with the sender only if the employee responds to the <br />message and the employee's response is anything other than a rejection. 5 C.F.R. § 2635.603. <br />An employee will be considered to be seeking employment with a person or an <br />organization if the employee contacts that person or organization concerning future employment. <br />In the age of social media, there are a multitude of ways that an employee might contact a <br />prospective employer and thereby trigger the seeking employment rules. For example, an <br />employee would trigger the seeking employment rules by sending a message directly to the <br />organization, uploading a resume or application to the prospective employer's social media <br />account for recruiting employees, or otherwise targeting the organization through a social media <br />communication. <br />C! <br />