Is Your Digital Footprint Squashing Your Reputation when applying for a job? Here's how you unintentionally bury yourself!

Over the past few years, several studies have been conducted looking at social media and employer hiring habits.  One of those studies, conducted by Microsoft, showed that 70% of employers in the United States screened out potential employees because of information found online.

Here are a few common reasons why employers have screened out potential job candidates:

• Falsifying information about qualifications
• Poor communication skills (spelling and grammar count!)
• Discriminatory comments were found on posts
• Posts about excessive drinking or drug usage
• Provocative or inappropriate photographs or information posted
• Bad mouthing of previous employer, co-workers or clients
• Sharing of confidential information from previous employer

 This raised several questions: What procedures are in place to ensure that the  information found online relates to the job candidate (there’s a Donna McNamara who  was recently arrested and isn’t me)?  Do they differentiate between information  voluntarily posted by an individual versus information someone else posts about  them?  Is the information validated for accuracy?  Are there potential legal  ramifications of online searching?

 For potential employees, online information can be especially troublesome as in the  case of personal networking sites like Facebook.  Here, people openly post candid  photos of themselves and allow others to tag them in photos.  This often means  drunken escapes are captured for general public consumption (Imagine going out for  drunken bar binge on Saturday; Getting yourself drunk silly and then applying for a  job as a counsellor at your local AA. A potential employer may decide to screen out  a candidate after seeing some questionable photos or posts.

Of course, your digital footprint could also work to your advantage:

And, here are some reasons employers have hired potential candidates:

• Solid communication skills displayed
• Profile provided a good feel for the applicant’s personality and fit
• Creativity displayed
• Awards, accolades and good references posted
• Profile supported applicant’s qualifications

 Issues with online search don’t just impact potential job candidates.  Recruiters and HR staff  doing the searching can open themselves up for trouble by obtaining too much information.    For example, personal networking sites often include information about race, religious beliefs,  age, sexual orientation and marital status; factors NOT to be considered in pre-employment  screening and in many countries, by LAW is a no no! By searching potential candidates’  personal sites, recruiters become exposed to information that does not pertain to the  applicant’s ability to perform the job and may inadvertently consider factors such as age, race, etc.

Bottom line – clean up your social networking sites.

• Don’t have photos you wouldn’t want an employer to see.
• No drunken escapes, no profanity, or slurs.
• Don’t bad mouth former employers, bosses or co-workers.
• Make your social networking sites private.
• Sweat the small stuff. Your e-mailaddress, spelling, and grammar speak to your maturity and communication skills.

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