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Looking for a Job? Watch What You Write on Your MySpace Pages

More Recruiters Logging On

A survey finds employers are turning to social networking sites in the hunt for talent.

From: Inc.com : Laura Palotie


A growing number of employers are planning to make better use of social networking sites as a recruiting tool, a recent study shows.

More than a third of 150 recruiters surveyed nationwide said they would tap into sites like Facebook and Myspace to scan profiles of job applicants, according to Robert Half International, a Menlo Park-Calif.-based staffing firm. Another 62 percent said they would turn to more professional networking sites like LinkedIn. By contrast, video resumes and Second Life were considered less important for finding new talent.

For the entire article go to INC.com

If you get too frisky on your MySpace or Face Book or some other social networking site, it might cost you. Human Resource people monitor these sites, checking out the behavior of employment candidates. Depending on what they see and who they are, and how open minded they are, you could end up missing out on a job.

In fact, Corra, being a company that performs background checks, has been solicited at times by different companies to monitor the social networks for them. We would be kind of like the Santa of the job world, checking in to see who has been naughty, who has been nice. It is a little much for Corra, so we have politely refused. Whether background checking services have is another issue.

Personally, I love MySpace, Face Book and the other social networks. While some pages can be tedious, others are fresh and innovative and lot of fun to peruse. Being a bit older than the initial demographic, it’s still a bit of a learning curve, negotiating the social networks. But it can be fun.

But if I was up for a job, I may be careful. At the same time, if I were a Human Resources Manager, I can see the logic of looking up your job prospects. Let’s face it, you don’t want someone who behaves like an idiot. But then sometimes the more eccentric souls and the more competent. We all know a few.

Check them out before you hire. Call Corra.

By Gordon Basichis

Gordon Basichis is the Co-Founder of Corra Group, specializing in pre-employment background checks and corporate research. He has been a marketing and media executive and has worked in the entertainment industry, the financial, health care and technology sectors. He is the author of the best selling Beautiful Bad Girl, The Vicki Morgan Story, a non-fiction novel that helped define exotic sexuality in the late twentieth century. He is the author of the Constant Travellers and has recently completed a new book, The Guys Who Spied for China, dealing with Chinese Espionage in the United States. He has been a journalist for several newspapers and is a screenwriter and producer.