More Than Just Resume Lies: When Social Networking Profiles Blow Someone

It's no surprise that many employment applicants now have social networking profiles on sites like MySpace and Facebook. It's one thing to stumble across a candidate's resume and cover letter along with a professional head shot. It's another thing altogether to find pictures of drunken party happenings and indiscretions. Unfortunately, for people who choose to post questionable content or photographs of themselves, getting hired for a job can be a challenge. So, what can candidates and employers do about the excess of information available on the Internet? Here are some suggestions.

Resume lies can ruin someone's chances of getting hired. The fact of the matter is that many people are lying about everything from dates of employment and salary history to job titles they have held and businesses they have owned. A social networking site can open up a fresh perspective into what kind of person an applicant is when they are not putting on their best face for an employer. Stories abound of employees who have later been fired for lewd pictures surfacing on their personal profile pages. The bottom line in getting through issued like resume falsification is to gather information from multiple sources, both online and through an employment screening service like Accu-Screen.

According to a recent report published on the CNN.com Web site, 45% of employers used social networking sites to gather information about their candidates. This was a more than 20% increase from the prior year. Recruiters are getting online and Googling their applicants to not only see if they have perpetrated any resume lies, but to see how they conduct themselves and to read about what others are saying about them. Everything from a person's product reviews to their personal profiles can be viewed and checked for integrity and to show a good (or bad) reflection of that person.

Today's employees are more technically savvy than at any other time in history. Most can easily navigate any basic software application on a computer. They know how to gather information and buy things off of the Internet and have some kind of a mobile device used for communication. It's no wonder that everyone leaves footprints of their online (and offline) activities for others to find. These footprints should be managed by candidates prior to submitting their applications for employment. Though for some it is impossible to undo everything, some clean-up can be done.

Though once something is out on the Internet it is extremely difficult to remove it completely, these two ways can help. Anyone can go into each of their social networking profiles and remove questionable content (photos and commentaries); this can be a very effective way of helping to do some 'damage control'. This can help clean up their image and lessen the chances of a potential employer from finding damaging content. If there is too much to effectively remove, perhaps deleting the profile altogether and canceling accounts is best.

Finally, ask friends to remove any incriminating content from their own social networking profiles. The reason for this is because it's not just about our own social networking profiles; what others are saying and showing about us can also do damage to our careers. Stopping resume lies and resume falsification is something that each person can easily do prior to undergoing an employment screening. However, when social networking sites can paint a bad picture of us, it's also important to do damage control in those places as well. Remember, what's out on the Internet is there for everyone to see! When done well, it can be a professional and integral part of the hiring process.