Two recent news stories highlighted for me just how interesting and strange the world of job hunting and background checks can be in this Digital Age. First there was story on MSNBC that underlined something that I think we all know: employers use online search engines like Google and social networking sites like MySpace to check up on prospective hires. Here’s a quote:
According to a March survey by Ponemon Institute, a privacy think tank, 35 percent of hiring managers use Google to do online background checks on job candidates, and 23 percent look people up on social networking sites. About one-third of those Web searches lead to rejections, according to the survey.
I don’t know about you, but I figured that, as tech-savvy as kids are, they’d be aware of what was going on. Then I read a piece in Inc. magazine.
Two-thirds of job applicants under 30 are not aware that employers conduct online searches of candidates, although they are the age group most likely to say their Web presence might need to be cleaned up, according to a new survey.
Job Hunting in the Digital Age, a poll of about 600 current employees conducted by Harris Interactive for Adecco USA, found that 66 percent of workers in Generation Y (ages 18 to 29) are oblivious to the online background checks employers do to research potential employees.
Maybe it’s the fact that when you’re young, you don’t realize how important reputation is. They haven’t stopped to think how some of the outrageous pictures and comments they’re posting on personal sites could hurt their job search.
You can help, as they say in those public service ads. If you’ve got a Gen Y person in your life, show them the numbers. Tell them how it is.