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.
www.jobbound.com
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.
www.jobbound.com
posted by BK at 9:50 AM
1 Comments:
I think people are just now becoming aware of the impact of what they put on their profiles on MySpace and Facebook. We recently added links to our job template on our job board of choice and we have a fraction of those contacted who join our group on Facebook compared to those who join LinkedIn. It was an interesting discovery. Great post!
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