Facebook to examine the profiles of job candidates, and 39% have looked up the profile

of a current employee.

Vault’s Social Networking Web Site Survey was conducted in October and consists of

700 responses from employers and employees representing various industries across the

United States.

One employer says he looks at these sites, “on occasion, seeking to both corroborate

experience and to see if I can learn a bit more about the person.”

Profiles that reveal questionable behavior or attitudes can be harmful to job seekers. Of

employers, 82% say that something they perceive as negative on a profile would affect

their decision to hire the applicant.

Most employees (75%) are aware that potential employers may look up their profiles, and

28% think that something on their profiles might be a turn off to future bosses. This

explains why 57% of employees take security measures, such as using the web site’s

privacy controls or editing their profiles when in the midst of a job search.

According to one employee, “Although I have nothing to hide, I'd rather some employers

not see what personal messages my friends have written me.”

Vault is the leading media company focused on careers. Vault offers over 120 nationally

which includes surveys and “insider” information on more than 4,500 employers, 4,000

colleges and universities, and hundreds of industries and occupations, as well as the

much-praised Electronic WaterCooler™, the Internet’s first-ever network of message

boards for professionals with nearly 2,000,000 searchable posts. Vault was founded in

1996 by Hussam Hamadeh, Samer Hamadeh and Mark Oldman.