Forty-five Percent of Employers Use Social Networking Sites to Research Job Candidates
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Over at Career Builder they have posted the results of a recent survey in which 45% of employers who responded stated that they check potential employees on social networking sites. What is also surprising is that some potential employees are not hired because of what they have posted on their web pages.
The article from Career Builder also states:
Job seekers are cautioned to be mindful of the information they post online and how they communicate directly with employers. Thirty-five percent of employers reported they have found content on social networking sites that caused them not to hire the candidate. The top examples cited include:
Candidate posted provocative or inappropriate photographs or information 53 percent
Candidate posted content about them drinking or using drugs 44 percent
Candidate bad-mouthed their previous employer, co-workers or clients 35 percent
Candidate showed poor communication skills 29 percent
Candidate made discriminatory comments 26 percent
Candidate lied about qualifications 24 percent
Candidate shared confidential information from previous employer 20 percentFourteen percent of employers have disregarded a candidate because the candidate sent a message using an emoticon such as a smiley face, while 16 percent dismissed a candidate for using text language such as GR8 (great) in an e-mail or job application.
In this time when our unemployment rate is high, when job seekers are competing in a limited job market, potential employees should be careful what they post online. It could come back to bit you in the butt.
Comments welcome.
4 Comments
Ryan Farmer
August 19th, 2009
at 3:24pm
That’s why you post using a pseudonym or mark things you don’t want them to read as “Friends Only” or by marking the entire page “Friends Only”.
If you do that, the only thing they’ll see is your profile picture and for anything else it will say “This profile is set to private, add this person to your friends list”
What’s the most disturbing about this is that employers could really be using the information to violate employment non-discrimination laws, then stating another reason why you didn’t get the job.
Personally, I think everyone should set their Myspace or Facebook to “Friends Only” because it’s not the kind of stuff the whole world should be able to walk in and see, it’s none of their business.
Ryan Farmer
August 19th, 2009
at 3:29pm
There’s also (usually) an option to enter a fake name for your profile so nobody can search your first and last name, but make your “display name” your real first name. You can do that on Myspace.
Tell it your name is “John Doe” and then set your display name to your real first name. That way if a potential employer searches your real full name on Myspace, it won’t bring up any hits at all.
John Doe as your “real name” + “Friends Only” in privacy settings will probably throw potential employers off your track.
“Deploy countermeasures!”
“Countermeasures away!”
“Hard right rudder, steady as she goes, dive dive dive!!!”
Hehe
Ryan Farmer
August 19th, 2009
at 3:46pm
A visual guide.
http://img30.imageshack.us/img30/2002/76352928.png
http://img7.imageshack.us/img7/407/60300721.png
Paint.exe is quite possibly the most useful bundled Windows program ever.
Forty-five Percent of Employers Use Social Networking Sites to … | New Web 2.0 Magazine
August 20th, 2009
at 11:28am
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