According to a recent survey on how your Internet reputation -- or NetRep -- affects career prospects, one in five employers have searched for personal information online about a prospective employee, with more than half  saying it influenced their recruitment decision. One quarter of these net-savvy HR decision-makers admitted they had rejected applicants based on information they had found online. 

Peter Cunningham, the country manager of Viadeo in Britain, the business networking site which commissioned the survey, is not surprised by the findings.

"When you are recruiting, there is still an element of risk," he said. "You have the CV, you meet them and ask for references but you want to make sure what you have seen is correct, so it's very cheap and easy to type someone's name into Google and see what comes up." 

Hidden danger

The problem, says Cunningham, is that so many people don't see the danger. "We all enjoy networking with our friends and family online but posting personal information for all to see on the internet also carries significant risks," he said.  "Employers are never more than a few clicks away from your wild holiday photos or personal discussions with friends, which may end up having a huge impact on their recruitment decision." 

Martin Nicholls, CEO of executive search and recruitment company Talent2 in Hong Kong, says the biggest problem is that people see social networking as fun. 

"You have to be careful what you put out there about yourself and other people," he said. "You have to apply the same rule as you should with email: never write what you don't want the public to see." 

Unaware

His comments are backed up by a survey released last November by the British government's Information Commissioners Office (ICO) which said 60 percent of 14-21 year-olds interviewed were not aware that information posted on the Internet could be used by universities and potential employers to vet them. Seven out of 10 did not know the information could be viewed in future -- with many admitting it could be embarrassing. 

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