So here it is.  The great advance in social networking, the Internet.  It all started with “IM-ing” and now it has grown to full networking sites.  I know you are all familiar with them; Myspace, Facebook, Twitter, etc.  The real question is did you realize just how quickly they can derail that job-seeking train? 

            More and more companies everyday are moving themselves into social networking and more and more of them are using it as a way to look into the habits and personality of the potential employees they are looking at.  So I thought we should look at a few ways to prevent your Facebook or Myspace from keeping you standing in the unemployment lines.

            First lets look at last weekend.  Did you go out with your friends?  Have a few drinks maybe?  Did anyone have a camera in hand?  How many of those pictures with that little umbrella drink in your hand made onto Facebook?  Did your best friend send you a comment talking about how stupid you looked when you fell down the stairs and got kicked out of the bar?

            What about those silly surveys?  Take any of those lately?  The questions can be deadly in their apparent innocence.  When was the last time you called in sick cause you were drunk?  How many times have you lied to your boss?  Remember those questions?

            How about your layouts on Myspace?  How many half naked people are in the background?  What about drug or violent images?  And lets not forget about the apps that appear to promote drinking, gang warfare, or those cool little joke bumper stickers.

            “Ok, Ok…. I get it,” you say “now what do I do about it?”

            Fix it!  There are many things that these sites allow you to do to help from getting too much of your personal life out there.  Try typing into a Google search “Myspace hide your friends code”.  You will find a very simple cut and paste code to make your friends invisible.  Look at your account settings.  Maybe those pictures, which are meant to be shared with family and friends, should be set to only be viewable by friends.  Most social networking sites have these controls.  You can even go as far as setting the entire profile private, which you should definitely do if you have ANY concern about it.

            After you do this, there are two things left for you to do; 1- go look at your profile while not logged in (maybe even ask a trusted friend to do the same) and see if there is anything left viewable by the general public that could be of concern.  2- Do a Google search of yourself.  Type in your name and location (city and state) and see what comes up on the Internet.  See if there are other things out there you may have forgotten.

          The Internet is a great tool, and when it comes to job searching, don’t let it become your nightmare.  Be vigilant…be smart…don’t let you be the reason you don’t get a job!