Job Interviews: Your Background Check is on Facebook

What do YOU post on your social media pages? 
Yes, your Facebook, Flickr, Blog, LinkedIn, YouTube… what messages are you using to Tweet to the world?

With all this up-to-date technology at HR fingertips – they’re USING IT — to get a clearer picture of who you really are!

You’ve been Googled!
The next time you apply for a job, don’t be surprised if you have to agree to a social-media background check. Many U.S. companies and recruiters are now looking at your social media accounts and blogs!  Think it’s illegal? Nope. The Federal Trade Commission deems the Internet fair game, and researching you on it does not violate your privacy.

“Almost all employers do some form of background screening because they have to avoid negligent hiring,” said Max Drucker, chief executive of Social Intelligence, a consumer-reporting agency. “An employer has an obligation to make the best effort to protect their employees and customers when they hire.” Employers, for example, cannot legally make hiring decisions based on race, religion, marital status or disability. But they can make decisions based on whether or not they like your attitude or your ethics.

Quick Tips:

– Find out what’s out there about you. Anything that may be taken out of context should be taken down.

– Be concerned about the accuracy of what’s gathered.

– Remember that bits and pieces of you are at a number of other sites, like LinkedIn, Craigslist or Foursquare, blogs, forums and wikis that you might visit.

– Check — and frequently re-check — your privacy settings on social-media accounts like Facebook and Twitter.

– Create a positive online presence by putting up your resume on a site with your domain name or getting it on forums of charitable organizations that you support.

READ THE FULL STORY HERE, written by Jennifer Waters, a reporter for MarketWatch