Your Facebook Page Can Kill a Job Opportunity

This generation didn't invent stupidity. It's just the first to post it online for all the world to see. And that's the rub: Employers are getting savvier about looking you up online. How? In some cases, just by Googling your name.

More and more companies -- 61 percent, says the Ponemon Institute, a privacy research organization -- are running online background checks of prospective hires. And 43 percent of those potential bosses nixed candidates based on what they found out about them. As one consultant told the New York Post, "Your Google results are your new résumé."

Hiring someone is risky business. Employers, after all, don't like surprises. They look at what people post and wonder, Is that new salesperson, the one who posted something silly, crude or stupid likely to do the same at a convention? Will the new guy in advertising turn off clients with endless chatter about his World of Warcraft score? No question, the easiest way to deal with a potential problem is before the hire.

Some applicants demonstrate a complete lack of judgment and maturity. Anyone applying for a job would be wise to review his or her online persona from an employer's perspective. "I had a candidate who wrote on a religious blog things like 'We're right and they're wrong and they're all going to hell,'" says one recruiter He didn't get the job, because the employer feared he'd spend his days preaching to co-workers. Then there's the guy who got passed over after bragging about how well he did in Vegas. To one potential boss, that screamed "Gambler!"

Yes, religious platitudes are protected speech, and gambling in Vegas is legal. But take note: If the boss has concerns, he probably won't hire you.

And it's not just about getting hired. An applicant couldn’t believe it when his former bosses at a publishing company took exception to what he wrote on a friend's MySpace page. "I left in a very professional manner so I could get a good reference," says the applicant. "Then I wrote a two-line comment, a little ha-ha funny. But I guess if you read the post out of context, it wouldn't seem too funny."

What did his former employer take out of context? This: "Thank goodness this is my final day in this dump.”

"I should have used common sense," the applicant admits his chances of getting that reference are now shot. "Anything that you put online is public information."

This should seem pretty obvious to the generation who grew up on these sites, right? Maybe not, says an admissions expert. When it comes to the Net, she says, young people tend to fall for two traps. One: "Many of them believe it's truly private, and they'll determine who gets to see what, and it will stop there." Wrong! And two: "Their sense of what things will be like in the next stage of their life is not realistic."

In other words, they don't always grasp the fact that first impressions are often last impressions. They figure, I'm a good person, I'm a smart person, and eventually everyone will see that. "Teachers will give you the benefit of the doubt," Norman says. "But employers aren't rushing to do that."

So what do you do about that foolish, immature picture now that you're looking for a job? Take it down! And anything else that could possibly be construed as offensive.

But what if the picture is now on other sites? After all, a friend can post your photo on his Facebook page or someplace less secure. And from there, it can be posted on another site. In other words, you're no longer in control of your photo.

This problem is so pervasive that a new industry has cropped up: identity management. "Complete transparency is great for the Internet, but not when it comes to your personal life.

This pocketbook warfare tends to seal the deal, but not always. While a student at Yale Law School, for example, one young woman applied to 16 firms for a summer associate position but didn't field a single offer. It turned out that students had spread vicious rumors on a law-school discussion forum. You may think walking the straight and narrow is the solution. Think again. "Half the stuff is totally unexpected.

These new business models serve to remind us that the World Wide Web is still the Wild, Wild West. You've got to be careful out there. On the other hand…… after graduating from Notre Dame in 2005, a 25-year-old landed a position in the ad-sales department of an upscale magazine. Her future employers checked out her Facebook profile and saw pictures of her scuba diving, traveling through Italy and helping introduce computers to a small African village. On the flip side, there were photos of her at a tailgate party and a guy playfully planting a kiss on her cheek. But those pictures didn't bother the employer, who offered her the job anyway. "They were looking for someone who would mesh with their community," she says. "My profile showed I'm a well-rounded person."

Let's face it, most of us have done something we regret. It's called being human. But tossing it online is another matter. And for some, it's even become an addiction, one with a nickname: Crackspace. Young or old, students and execs alike turn into exhibitionists, putting every aspect of their lives on public display. In a forgiving, kindly environment, yes. "But in a business environment?"

In a recent survey, hiring managers checked out job candidates online and discovered these cyber-skeletons:

31% lied about qualifications.

24% were linked to criminal behavior.

19% bad-mouthed their former company.

19% boasted about drinking and doing drugs.

15% shared confidential information from former employers.

11% posted provocative photographs.

8% used an unprofessional screen name.

Source: CareerBuilder.com

Protect Your Virtual Résumé

• Don't post anything obnoxious, lewd or risqué, and don't trash former employers.

• Switch your Facebook or MySpace profile to "private."

• Edit what friends write on your "wall." You'll be held accountable for their idiocy.

• Don't write anything on someone else's profile that can come back to haunt you.

• Avoid crazy e-mail addresses like spicychica2, dirthead and imsotired.

• Google yourself regularly. Better yet, sign up for a Google Alert, which will tell you when your name is mentioned online.

• Think of your profile as your public relations tool. Use it to present your accomplishments and creativity, not to settle scores and attack others.
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