Would your online profile hurt your job search?
Facebook, MySpace, and personal blogs are a fun way to network with friends, but can this seemingly harmless tool ruin your chances of getting that dream job? College graduates and young professionals do not have many past bosses or employers, so some companies are turning to the Internet to run informal background checks.
A 2007 survey by Ponemon Institute found that:
-35 percent of hiring managers use Google to do online background checks on job candidates
-23 percent look people up on social networking sites.
-About one-third of those Web searches lead to rejections, according to the survey.
A study by another workforce consulting firm showed that 66 percent of Generation Y respondents, those in their late teens and 20s, were not aware that the information they put online can be factored into hiring decisions. Fifty-six percent said they think the practice is unfair.
Unfair or not, there is not much legislation out there that guards against discriminating against questionable Facebook profiles. Play it safe and keep your profile G-rated if you're serious about securing a good job.
I can't say this enough: even if you make your account private, if its out in cyberspace, evidently its fair game for hiring managers to use as fodder for denying an application. I've made mine so G-rated, it would even make Disney squirm.
But if Einstein had a Facebook profile portraying him in a negative light do you think that he would have a hard time finding a job in a research company? Everyone has more than one side, but just because some are not afraid to show it and actually have the guts to expose it, should they be punished for being truthful for who they are or were? Just some food for thought!
I too have a myspace account, but have marked my site as "private-friends only" so that only people I have approved can look at it. But I guess that doesn't mean that someone who "knows someone" that is my "friend" can't look it up through them (if that made sense!) . . . :)