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Job candidates who maintain profiles on social
networking sites, such as Facebook or MySpace, may want to rethink their
postings: More than one-quarter (26.9 percent) of the organizations
responding to a recent poll conducted by the National Association of
Colleges and Employers (NACE) reported that they have "Googled" or
reviewed job candidate profiles on social networking sites.
"Students need to be aware that information
they have posted online and made public could be viewed by potential
employers," says Marilyn Mackes, NACE executive director.
Service-sector employers were most likely
to have "Googled" or checked social networking sites. (See
Figure 1.)
Figure 1: Percent of
respondents that have "Googled"/viewed candidate profiles online, by
sector
| Sector |
Percent |
| Services |
30.9 |
| Manufacturing |
21.9 |
| Govt./NP |
20.0 |
Among respondents that reported having used
this practice, just 7.4 percent reported that it was standard practice and
that they conduct such a check on all or most of their job candidates. The
largest group—41.2 percent—said they "Google"/check online profiles
occasionally, while 35.3 percent characterized their use of this practice
as "infrequent." A few—2.9 percent—reported that they "Google"/check
social networking sites only for certain positions. The remaining
respondents (13.2 percent) gave other responses.
Respondents were also asked if they planned
to "Google"/review social networking sites in the future when considering
job candidates. Among those that do not currently engage in this practice,
results were mixed: Just 1.1 percent of responding organizations that have
not engaged in this practice up until now reported plans to do so in the
future, and the biggest group (39.5 percent) said they do not plan to do
this. However, nearly as many (35.1 percent) said they may do so in the
future, and 24.3 percent were unsure of their future plans in terms of
this practice. (See Figure 2.)
Figure 2: Future
plans, by sector and percent of respondents
| Sector |
Yes |
No |
Maybe |
Unsure |
| Services |
1.1% |
34.0% |
39.4% |
25.5% |
| Manufacturing |
1.3 |
42.7 |
36.0 |
20.0 |
| Govt./NP |
0.0 |
56.3 |
6.3 |
37.5 |
| Overall |
1.1 |
39.5 |
35.1 |
24.3 |
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