Social Networking Added to Interview Process

College students with profiles on social networking sites such as Facebook and Myspace might have yet another hurdle to clear in their pursuit for that dream job.

Imagine putting all your efforts into a single goal.  Almost anyone, in fact everyone, could say they have done just that.  Whether creating your high school bowling team to winning the heart of the guy or girl of your dreams, everyone knows the energy it takes.  College graduates have an entirely different daunting goal; finding the right job.

To further shake up an already difficult goal, employers are now considering applicants, not only by resumes, grades and interviews.  Through the growing popularity of online networking databases such as Facebook, Myspace and Friendster, employers now have tools to screen applications on yet another level.  For some students with profiles on these networks, the road to finding the right job has suddenly grown a bit more challenging.

Theory is, if a student posts something online, especially on a website such as Myspace or Facebook, they are inviting the world to view it.  Students must now realize, not just their friends are reading their profiles.

Although Facebook is still the most popular website frequently visited by undergrads, the ever-popular Myspace is leading the pack as one of the most trafficked sites on the internet to date.  Myspace allows users to search for other user profiles based on more criteria than Facebook.  This allows users to find social networking connections and allows employers to hunt for their applicants.

With nearly 80 percent of college and university students having a Facebook profile, what better way to filter out the “bad picks.”  With the growing popularity of using social networks as tools to add information to employee profiles, etc, users of these networks need to be more careful of their posts.

The information is public.  You definitely do not want to walk into an interview with a large corporation, applying for your first position and the company already know your face.  The face covered in black sharpie marks, leaned against a bench with a bottle of whisky tied to hand.