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Social networking sites are all in the name of good fun. They connect people with friends, old schoolmates, colleagues, family, and users can keep in touch with the click of a button. But outside of socialising, sites like Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, and LinkedIn can also be dangerous, especially during the process of career development and job hunting. Recent studies have shown that up to 22% of hiring managers check the social networking sites of their candidates, and that many have turned down applicants due to the content they found.

In order to make an informed decision, employers try to learn as much about candidates as possible. And with Google providing easy access, all they have to do is type an applicant’s name into the search engine and see what pops up. A blog, a photo, a link to a Facebook page. It’s the contemporary version of running checks on academic degrees and criminal records, except that they can discover information about the applicants in a social and cultural context. It is common for these background searches to be performed on fresh university graduates, since these applicants have no previous career experience and no referee to call and question.

The main things that turn off potential employers and derail your career before it gets started are inappropriate photographs, particularly as a profile picture or in the act of illicit behaviour. Other incriminating factors include bad writing or grammar that may indicate low communication skills, derogatory comments, radical political positions, lies about qualifications, the releasing of trade secrets, and bad-mouthing previous employers. The surprising part is that social network users don’t realise or forget how accessible their information really is to the broader public.

Many people believe that sites like Facebook are private, and that their information can only be viewed by friends. This may be the case, depending on what privacy settings are selected, but often the image that they are unknowingly presenting on the net does not promote them professionally. Even if a hiring manager does not have a Facebook account, they can still search a candidate on the site and view a condensed version of their profile page. Exactly what shows up depends on the preferences of the user. They may allow people other than friends to view: their profile picture, friends list, link to add them as friend, link to send them a message, and fan pages. In the security settings section, there is even the option to allow Facebook to create a public listing for the user and submit it to the search engine index, so that if their name is typed into Google, their profile will show up as a link.

These social networking scans are not only run on young people applying for jobs in specific fields, such as education or childcare. They are becoming routine for employers in all areas, to understand candidates beyond their resume. Some argue it can be seen as an invasion of privacy and unfair discrimination to judge someone on their personal networking page. But it’s the Internet—it’s a public zone. It would be an invasion of privacy if their page was made private to begin with. But if a candidate hasn’t taken the care to block their page from the public eye, and their profile pic shows them guzzling beer with their shirt off, then a job rejection is the price they may have to pay.

The best career advice for people who are career or job hunting is listed below. Your career may turn on these so consider them carefully. Here are a few precautions to take to avoid making a bad virtual impression.

• Check the privacy settings on your social networking pages
• Remove any inappropriate photos
• Be wary of what groups you join. If a potential employer sees that you’re a fan of ‘Drinking til Dawn’ then it’s not likely to make a good impression
• Censor your updates and wall posts
• Monitor the pages of your friends. They may post and tag incriminating photos of you, write derogatory messages on your wall, or otherwise act in ways with which you will be negatively associated
• Watch the photos you post—there have been cases of people copying and pasting friends’ photos on blogs and discussion boards without their knowledge. This can provoke harmful or derogatory comments and spread a negative virtual presence of the person in the photographs
• Put your name in a search engine and see what comes up
• If you have a negative virtual image and don’t know how to fix it, try visiting http://www.reputationdefender.com/ for a serious solution.

It’s not necessary to cancel social networking accounts when deciding on a career or job hunting, but to simply be aware of the background checks that are performed on candidates. If a profile page is friendly and professional, then there is no reason for an employer to think negatively of the applicant. Users of Facebook and similar sites simply need to be aware of who can view their personal information, and be proactive in creating a positive virtual image.