Your Online Reputation and the Job Search -- It's More than Just Risqué Photo Postings

This morning I was reading a post on the CareeRealism website about how social media and your online activities are affecting your job hunt. The article leads off with the now-nearly-standard example of "pictures taken during your college days...drunk".

I'm 40-something and when I hear about the whole drunk-college-student photos-posted-on-Facebook thing, I must admit my eyes glaze over. And I think: what has all this online rep have to do with me and my job search? And how many others 5+ years out of college think the same?

I fear that articles of this ilk don't go far enough with respect to covering the depth and breadth of the online reputation search.

And that is one of the key points of a recent survey, taken as part of Microsoft's 4th Annual Privacy Day (PDF link here). 70% of U.S. hiring managers/recruiters surveyed say they have disqualified candidates based on their online reputation, while only 7% of consumers surveyed think their online reputation affects their job search. (Talk about a disconnect!!)

What kinds of sites are looked at? Had someone on the street asked me (before I read the survey results), I would've guessed that an HR person would do a background check (that's been done on me before), and might Google me, or attempt to view my Facebook profile (it's pretty locked down to strangers), view my LinkedIn profile, check for a Twitter account and/or blog posts. All in all -- no biggie!

But those sites are just for starters. Those HR professionals/recruiters surveyed indicated they also looked at:
virtual world sites (Second Life, anyone?),
online gaming sites,
and sites such as online forums, Craigslist, EBay, and Amazon. (Amazon??? So a book review you post might put you out of the running for a job?)

What kinds of information can be used to disqualify you? Some of it might surprise you; it surprised me.

The top 6 kinds of online info leading to rejection in the U.S. are (p. 9):

1) concerns about the candidate's lifestyle
2) inappropriate comments and text written by the candidate [presumably, blog posts, blog comments, FB status updates, etc.]
3) unsuitable photos, videos, and info [presumably those college drunk days photos?]
4) inappropriate comments or text written by FRIENDS AND RELATIVES [my emphasis]
5) comments criticizing previous employers, co-workers or clients
6) inappropriate comments or text written by COLLEAGUES OR WORK ACQUAINTANCES [my emphasis]

This quote from the survey results (p. 20) summarizes it all:

"Traditionally, recruiters have had clear restrictions on the types of information they can ask candidates....Now, recruiters can easily and anonymously collect information that they would not be permitted to ask in an interview, and the survey found that recruiters are doing just that."

I believe that companies have the right to protect their own reputations by hiring candidates that reflect well upon them, and that we as employees are representatives -- like or not -- of our employer as we go about our jobs. Certainly if someone calls in sick and then photos are found on that person's Facebook profile of some wild escapades taking place while they were presumably sick, I think the company is justified in terminating the employee.

That said, it's not just about posting risqué photos online. A potential employer cannot ask your age or marital status in an interview but can now turnaround and find out that information pretty easily online, and reject you as a candidate. Even worse, you may maintain a minimal online profile, but your own relative or a coworker can say something about you that leads to your rejection as a candidate!

So where do we draw the line as to how much access a potential employer should have to our personal life? And how many degrees of separation from our connections is enough?