dcf.cymru stimulus sheet · PSE / Well-being · Year 11
The job, and three invented applicants
These three applicants do not exist. Nobody in this lesson searches for a real person — not themselves, not a classmate, not a member of staff. You work only from this sheet.
Cover teacher — the one rule
No searching for real people, on any device, at any point. Every profile needed for the task is printed here. If a pupil starts looking up a real name, stop them and point them back to this sheet.
The vacancy
Saturday sales assistant — Gerddi Glanyrafon Garden Centre, Llandeilo Fach
Six hours a Saturday, serving customers on the till and in the plant yard. We are looking for someone reliable, polite with customers, able to work in a small team and happy outdoors in Welsh weather. Welsh speakers especially welcome. Three applicants have been shortlisted. Before interview, the manager looks at whatever each applicant has made public.
Applicant 1 — public profile of “@bryn.grows.things”
Bio: “16. Rugby, allotment, terrible at spelling. Cardiff City til I die.”
Recent public posts:
- A photo of tomato plants: “third year running, finally got them right.”
- A post thanking a local park volunteer group for a Saturday litter pick, with a photo of eight people and bin bags.
- A reply to a football account: “ref was shocking but that’s football, on to the next one.”
- Two posts about a bake sale raising money for a hospice.
Tagged photos visible to the public: a rugby team photo; a birthday meal with family.
Settings: profile public, tagging set to “review before it appears”.
Applicant 2 — public profile of “@ceri.k.official”
Bio: “dont @ me”
Recent public posts:
- A 40-reply argument with a stranger about a bus timetable, ending “you’re actually thick”.
- “Called in sick, obviously not sick 😂” posted at 11:04 on a Saturday.
- A photo of a shop stockroom with the caption “worst job ever, manager is a joke”.
- A screenshot of a private group chat with three other people’s names left visible.
Tagged photos visible to the public: fourteen, untagged and unreviewed, several taken by other people.
Settings: everything public, location on, tagging unrestricted.
Applicant 3 — public profile of “@m_rhys_photos”
Bio: “Photos of birds and bridges. Blaenau Ffestiniog.”
Recent public posts: thirty photographs of birds, five of bridges, no captions beyond place names. No replies to anyone. No posts about work, school or other people.
Tagged photos visible to the public: none.
Settings: profile public, comments off, no location data.
Note left by the manager: “Can’t tell anything about them at all. Is that a problem?”
What UK employers actually do — and what they may not do
- Many employers do look at public profiles before interview. They are not supposed to use what they find to discriminate on grounds such as race, religion, disability, sex, sexual orientation, age, pregnancy, marriage or gender reassignment — these are protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010.
- An employer can lawfully take into account how you speak to strangers in public, whether you have published confidential information about a previous employer, and whether you have posted something that would embarrass their customers.
- You control more than you think: profiles can be made private, tag review can be switched on, old posts can be archived or deleted, and location data can be turned off.
- A completely empty profile is not a problem. “Nothing to see” is a legitimate choice and no employer can require you to hand over a social media account.