Employers Are Using the Internet to Learn More About You

Gone are the days when your resume could speak for itself and either help or hurt you when you go looking for that new job. Employers try to keep up with technology just like anyone else and now they have started looking online to see what more they can find out about you before they give you the job.

Websites like Myspace and Friendster have become huge over the last few years and although a lot of teens use them, adults are also creating an online world for themselves and it is easy to do a quick search and find the profiles of five people that you may know.

While some people are still arguing over whether or not it is fair or ethical for employers to look at your online history, the fact of the matter is many are doing so. A quick search on a few social networking sites will show you that there are many young girls and some boys who seem to be doing everything they possibly can to make sure that no one will ever hire them beside a strip club or two.

These sites are full of teens showing a lot of skin and some have admitted to posting pictures and even video of themselves nude or in different stages of undress. The internet is a gold mine of information and no matter how much you try to remain anonymous, if someone wants to find out who you are it is still possible for them to get that information.

It is well known that teens do some of the dumbest things, especially when a video camera is pointed there way but parents need to sit down with their children right now and let them know that prospective employers and even Colleges will one day look at what they have done and judge them accordingly.

Youtube is another popular video website that has millions of videos of teens doing extremely stupid and dangerous stunts and shows other teens dancing very suggestively and regardless of how smart they are or how talented, this behavior does not scream brain surgeon.

The truth of the matter is that 99% of us cannot say that we have never done anything stupid in our lives regardless of age. The difference is everyone does not film and post it on a website for the whole world to see and judge.

Even worse than having a bad reputation online is not having an online existence at all. Companies want to know more about the people they hire before they give them the job and some of them are looking online to find out more about you. Blogs are cheap and easy to set up and you can sign up and have one ready in a matter of minutes. Use this blog to portray yourself in a way that will make an employer proud to give you a job.

If you do join a social networking website, be careful of the people that you put on your friends list because as you know these same people can and will post comments on your profile page and it may not be something that you will want an employer to see.

Write articles, join forums and keep it in the back of your mind that what you do online, especially in your own name can come back to haunt you in a very big way later on.