Are Employers Really Checking on Your Facebook Page? Survey Says Yes

By now most job seekers have heard the advice that they should be cautious about what their personal Facebook, MySpace, Twitter or other social networking pages contain as inappropriate content may kill a candidates chances of obtaining their dream job should a potential employer decide to include browsing the Internet for a candidates online history.

Many jobseekers though shrug off this wisdom believing it to be media hype rather than reality. Why would a hiring manager waste their time on MySpace? However according to a recent CareerBuilder survey more of them than you may think are indeed including social media site activity as a part of their preemployment background checks.

The survey actually found that 45% of employers are using social networks to research candidates, which is up from 22% in 2008. Breaking it down into individual sites 29 percent use Facebook, 26 percent use LinkedIn and 21 percent use MySpace. Another 11 percent said they search for personal blogs, while 7 percent follow candidates on Twitter.

And what is that they find that changes there mind about a candidate the most? What online information do these employers think is the real deal breaker? A massive 53% of those surveyed said that posting inappropriate photographs or personal information was the biggest turn off. ( I will pause now so that you can go delete that picture from spring break in Cancun a couple of years ago....)

35% of employers were bothered by candidates who had made derogatory remarks about their current or former employers on their personal pages while a surprisingly high 29% said that if the candidate demonstrated poor communication skills on their profile they would think again before hiring them. MySpace and Facebook pages can be fun ways to communicate with friends and have a little fun. They can also be a powerful tool in your job search.

The simplest answer to this problem is this; create two profiles, a professional one and one for your amusement. And then remember to check the "private profile" option on your personal page while putting your best public face forward on your professional page.