So, have you just finished uploading pictures of your latest party adventures on Facebook and are eagerly waiting for your friends to comment? Considering our addiction to social networking sites, we like to share even the most outrageous and controversial of our experiences with our friends. While it is all fun and games with friends, I can assure you that it will not be the same with your future employers.
“What future employers?” you may ask. With technology expanding in gigantic proportions, our lives are present in an open showcase for the world to see. Even though you never expected your boss to pry on your social networking profile, it is now an accepted and popular practice.
A recent survey by Harris Interactive for CareerBuilder.com has shown that Facebook (29 percent) is the most popular choice for recruiters among all social networking sites, followed by Linkedln (26 percent), and MySpace (21 percent), to find out more information about job applicants.
According to the survey, at least 45 percent of all hiring managers admitted to using social networking sites to gather more details about applicants. 7 percent of hiring managers follow candidates on Twitter and 11 percent follow their blogs. An additional 11 percent of hiring managers showed interest in using these sites for scooping out information about their future employees.
A whopping 35 percent of candidates were rejected after the employers found their online social networking profiles to be a mismatch to the company’s reputation and the job position.
This study was based on the opinions of more than 2,600 managers and human resource officers. The industries most likely to use social networking sites to spy on the profiles of job applicants were Information Technology (63 percent) and Professional & Business Services (53 percent).
To get a better picture of the statistics involved, let’s go through some examples of the numerous cases based on which candidates were rejected:
Candidates who posted controversial or indecent photographs or information – 50 percent
Candidates who had pictures or videos of them doing drugs or drinking- 44 percent
Candidates who spoke poorly of their previous employers or colleagues- 35 percent
Candidates who displayed a lack of communication skills – 29 percent
Candidates who made inflammatory or discriminating comments – 26 percent
Candidates who shared private or confidential information regarding their previous employers – 20 percent
Candidates who lied about their qualifications – 24 percent
14 percent of employers have rejected a candidate because he/she sent a message to the employer which include an emoticon in it and 16 percent employers rejected job applicants who used inappropriate abbreviations (such as gr8 for great) while applying for the position or sending an e-mail to the employer.
Who ever thought that the racy pictures taken in a club or the crazy party video of you and your friends drinking on the beach can lead to rejection from an employer.
The fact is - it can. Now, that you are aware of the factors that can adversely affect your job prospects, it is time you exercise the “privacy settings” in these social networking sites effectively. Be sure to read the next blog, which outlines the things you can do to boost your profile and impress a future employer.
