That cute, affable guy who brags of his drunken exploits on FaceBook.com maybe meeting a lot of other partiers online, but he's probably notgetting added to the "friends" lists of many corporate recruiters. Arecent study by the executive search firm ExecuNet found that 77percent of recruiters run searches of candidates on the Web to screenapplicants; 35 percent of these same recruiters say they've eliminateda candidate based on the information they uncovered.
"You'd besurprised at what I've seen when researching candidates," says Gail, arecruiter at a Fortune 500 company who recently began looking uppotential hires on the Web. "We were having a tough time decidingbetween two candidates until I found the profile of one of them onMySpace. It boasted a photo of her lounging on a hammock in a bikini,listed her interests as 'having a good time' and her sex as 'yes,please.' Not quite what we were looking for."
"Another time Iwent to a candidate's site and found racial slurs and jokes," Gailcontinues. "And there was yet another instance where a candidate toldme he was currently working for a company, yet he left a comment on afriend's profile about how it 'sucked' to be laid off, and how much funit was to be unemployed!"
As the amount of personal informationavailable online grows, first impressions are being formed long beforethe interview process begins, warns David Opton, ExecuNet CEO andfounder. "Given the implications and the shelf-life of Internetcontent, managing your online image is something everyone shouldaddress -- regardless of whether or not you're in a job search," hesays. Because the risks don't stop once you're hired.
Twenty-three-yearold Kara recently took a job as a management consultant at ahigh-profile practice in the Los Angeles area. An Ohio native, with nofriends or family on the West Coast, Kara put up a profile on MySpacein the hopes of meeting new people.
Kara was judicious in how sheset up her site: "I didn't fill out that cheesy questionnaire manypeople post, where you describe your best feature and say whether ornot you shower every day." she says. "I used a photo that wasflattering but not at all provocative and was even careful what music Ichose."
Within a few months, Kara met many others online whoshared her interest in biking and water sports. One Friday morning,Kara decided to call in sick and go surfing with a few of her new pals.That weekend, unbeknownst to Kara, her friend posted some of the day'spictures on her profile and sent Kara a message saying, "We should callin sick more often."
Unfortunately for Kara, her boss happened tobe patrolling MySpace to check up on her college-age daughter and cameacross Kara's site and the dated photos!
Mortified, Kara says shelearned an important lesson -- not only about honesty, but about howsmall the world of online social networking can be and how littlecontrol you have over any information put out there.
Not allemployers search candidates and employees online, but the trend isgrowing. Don't let online social networking deep-six your careeropportunities. Protect your image by following these simple tips:
This article is courtesy of Careerbuilder.com ~ edited by KHOI