Viadeo have commissioned some research to look at the issue of "Internet Reputation" (or NetRep as they are calling it). Basically "how people are leaving significant footprints of personal information across the Internet (on blogs, social networks like MySpace and Facebook, YouTube etc) which may affect their chances of employment in the future".
Viadeo's PR company sent me a press release which says the following:
Recruiters say ‘no’ to job applicants with poor Internet reputations
* One in five employers find information about candidates on the web and 59% say it influences their recruitment decision
* A quarter of HR decision makers reject candidates based on personal information found online
Before I go any further I ought to mention that I hate it when PR companies present the figures in a survey in a misleading way to make it fit their purposes. The stats here are interesting without the spin. So here is my take on them.
They questioned 597 Managers and Directors of companies with more than two employees.
20% of respondents, who were specifically responsible for HR, said they had found information online about prospective employees. Of these 20% nearly 60% said it influences their recruitment decision. Now if my maths is right, in real-speak that's 12% of HR respondents were influenced by what they found on the web regarding a potential employee. 25% of these HR people had rejected candidates on the basis of the information they found. In real numbers that's 3 out of every 100 HR recruiters have kicked a candidate into touch because of what they found on the web (the good news for jobseekers is that 13% of HR professionals said it had a positive impact).
The survey contains loads of other information including some interesting stats from individuals (potential candidates to you and me) as well as some quotes about the sort of information found online. Well worth a read.
Despite the spin on stats I really believe jobseekers ought to be aware of their online presence. Many recruiters I know (especially researchers/headhunters) search the web for information on candidates before/whilst calling them. Obviously it's in most people's best interests not to have photos of them flashing their pants floating around the web. Also, random postings about how you hate your job or a strange obsession.
I've seen some other research recently which showed that 77% of recruiters said they use search engines to check out job candidates.
If you are a recruiter and you've never googled the name of a candidate you are about to interview - do it now! If you worry about your dubious past appearing on the internet .... I'll post some tips on how to clean up your web identity real soon.
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