Internet Profiles Influence Employers' Candidate Choice

Job candidates across the UK are at risk of losing out in securing employment due to poorly maintained social media profiles.

According to Job-Job.co.uk an Internet search-engine for jobs, 60% of potential employees may fall into a category of having a poor Internet 'image'.

Previously, a Google search was the biggest threat to applicants, but the company said this week that the increase in the popularity of social networking sites such as Twitter, Linked-In and Facebook means that candidates often unwittingly develop a searchable online persona.

They say that the contents of these can be easily found by employers and consequently can be detrimental to professional success.

Although the ever changing rules of social media and networking dictate that this genre of sites can now be used in both personal and professional capacities, there remains many hidden pitfalls for the candidate should they neglect to maintain their profiles.

Job-Job.co.uk believes that a growing proportion of employers admit to conducting individual online research in a bid to discover the uncensored social media persona of a candidate and therefore gain a more realistic view of their social behaviour.

"This custom has become increasingly commonplace and now forms an integral part of many employers' checklists when seeking to fill vacancies and expand business," said a spokesperson.

This practice is made increasingly frequent with a large proportion of employers openly acknowledging that the final decision concerning a candidate's future is swayed by their online discoveries, thus proving that the task of securing employment is no longer based simply upon a word perfect CV and promising interview.

Founder of Job-Job.co.uk Ian Brooks commented: "Social media is a growing phenomenon, and is continuously developing and changing.

"As a consequence, sites and networks dip in and out of popularity on a fairly frequent basis meaning that it is extremely easy for profiles to become poorly maintained.

"This can be extremely dangerous for candidates as they could meet each criterion head on with regard to a job, but a misjudged photograph or careless comment found through online profiles and pages is enough to force an employer to question conduct and professional integrity," Mr Brooks said.

(BMcC/KMcA)