Be Careful What You Put on Your Web Site

By Mike Maciag, Journal Star, Peoria, Ill.

Mar. 4–PEORIA — Facebook and MySpace have become virtual playgrounds for students wanting to socialize with their friends. They’re filled with often-revealing photographs and personal messages that usually aren’t meant for everyone.

In recent years, social networking sites have also become recruiting tools for employers — potentially affecting a college student’s ability to land a job.

A survey commissioned by Chicago-based CareerBuilder.com in November and December 2007 found that 45 percent of employers used social networking sites or search engines to research potential hires.

In 2006, a similar CareerBuilder.com survey found 63 percent of the hiring managers that viewed a candidate’s profile chose not to hire the candidate based on what they found. Their top concerns included applicants lying about qualifications, having poor communication skills and criticizing previous employers or co-workers.

Dawn Gries, a career services advisor at Illinois Central College, expects even more companies to begin checking online profiles. “In the age of the internet, everything can be found out about you,” she said.

When 20-year-old Karen Smith heard stories from friends who had their profiles viewed by employers, it was a wake-up call. “It’s kind if something we do for fun, but employers who are looking to hire you are looking for all the information they can get,” she said.

Smith, a junior at Bradley University, has seen many embarrassing photos of fellow students on Facebook and MySpace that could be red flags for employers. Listing yourself as a member of the group “Future Procrastinators of America” probably won’t get you a job either, she said.

Rick Smith, director of career development at Bradley’s Smith Career Center, said employers check profiles more often then students think, but not as frequent as they might fear.

“It does infringe upon a perceived level of privacy,” he said.

Smith said less than half of the students he asked in his career planning strategies class last semester knew employers might be checking their profiles. As of Monday, there were more than 2,600 MySpace users who identified themselves as current students at Bradley.

To protect themselves, Smith advises students to set their privacy settings as tight as possible. MySpace and Facebook profiles can be configured so that they can be viewed only by those invited to visit.

He also encourages his students to regularly Google themselves to find what about them is online, like messages on discussion forums and information posted on Web sites of organizations they are involved in.

As far as Smith is concerned, it is never too early for students to begin thinking about what they post. “What they might consider to be very minor actions now could have larger repercussions later,” he said.

Sarah Peterson, a 21-year-old Bradley senior, said many college freshmen have not considered how their profiles look to future employers.

Peterson makes sure her Facebook profile is acceptable to anyone who comes across it. “If you don’t want your parents to know about it, you probably shouldn’t put it up,” she said.

By the time senior year rolls around, most seniors will decide to give their profile a makeover. “Seniors will take down stuff and just leave real basic things,” Peterson said.

Even if they change their profile, job hunters must beware of cached pages, which are snapshots of a Web page at an earlier date. Google and other search engines often store archives of cached pages.

For those wanting to be extra safe, several services offer to wipe out clients’ identities on the Internet. ReputationDefender.com digs up online information about an individual and creates a report. If any potentially damaging content is found, the service attempts to correct or remove it.

Most employers that check profiles apply the same level of scrutiny for all candidates.

At Illinois Mutual Insurance, every job finalist has his or her profile screened.

Carla Wingfield, the company’s assistant vice president for human resources and community relations, said the Peoria-based insurance firm searches MySpace and Facebook for candidates’ profiles.

Like most businesses, Illinois Mutual also conducts criminal background checks on applicants. The firm began checking online profiles last year.

For Wingfield, it’s another way to gauge a person’s character. “We have found that sometimes it’s very eye opening,” she said.

Even so, Wingfield said the majority of candidates’ profiles are acceptable.

Other companies still rely on traditional methods to recruit candidates.

Don Schultz, a recruiter at OSF Saint Francis Medical Center, said he does not use social networking sites to research candidates. Instead, he relies on references to assess an individual. “We use them (references) as a good guide for us, and feel that it is something that has always worked,” Schultz said.

Although Schultz has no plans to begin checking social networking sites, he said he would ask a candidate for permission if he ever wanted to view his or her profile.

Sometimes, a social networking profile can actually help applicants get hired.

LinkedIn.com is a networking Web site for adults, allowing them to develop contacts with associates and colleagues. They post recommendations and their resume for recruiters to view. Launched in 2003, the site has grown to more than 18 million members worldwide.

Many companies also use social networking sites to stay in touch with employees.

Bradley senior Katie Hamill, 22, was surprised when a Random House recruiter made her a Facebook friend after she interned at the book publisher last summer.

“I had no idea she was even on Facebook,” Hamill said. Luckily, she had nothing to hide.

Still, many job seekers are not concerned with how they are perceived online. A 2007 Pew Internet & American Life study found that 60 percent of Internet users do not worry about their personal information that is available on the Web.

As more employers begin to use social networking sites, students might start to think twice before posting photos from their latest party.

“We expect young people to be young, but I think they have to be very carefully how far they go,” Wingfield said.

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