Be careful what you say online. Your opinions may come back to haunt you.

A recent survey by Careerbuilder.com revealed that 45% of employers are researching their job candidates on the internet using social networking sites. These sites include MySpace, Linkedin, Facebook, Twitter, and blog posts…which reveal much more than the obligatory criminal background check.


Of course, no employer would ever use any of the information gleened through these searches to illegally or inappropriately discriminate against certain candidates….right?? Well, wrong. As much as we want to believe in the good nature and fairness of employers, discrimination can happen in unlikely places.

Take for example a blog post where you mentioned getting injured in a ski accident. You didn’t give many details other than mentioning injuring your knee. A month later, you apply for a job, and the employer does a little research about you and finds the blog post. A less than fair employer may consider you a liability, not knowing whether your knee has, or ever will heal. While this is clearly illegal discrimination, discrimination can also happen legally, albeit inappropriately.

Suppose you have tweets or Facebook posts disparaging your former employer or even another person. They may have a negative impact on a prospective employer. Maybe you talked about having a blast at a party where people were drunk or posted racy pictures of yourself or your friends. It can all go into the equation for making a hiring decision by an employer.