A new survey shows that 23% of US adults have searched on-line
for information about someone with whom they have a work
relationship, including employees, clients, customers, job
applicants, co-workers, and supervisors.
As the number of people posting to personal blogs grows, the
connection between personal information in the public domain and
its potential impact on one's professional life takes on increased
substance.
Mark Mehler, principal of employment strategy consultancy
CareerXRoads, cautions job seekers to stay away from posting
personal information on-line because it can affect them
professionally. "You never know who's going to go to your blog," he
warned. "It's really best not to post personal information."
Margaret Riley Dikel, co-author of Guide to Internet Job
Searching, agrees.
"You have to choose how you want to present yourself to the
public. If you're in the newspaper or a newsletter, you're on-line.
That's just something people need to be aware of," she said. "It's
wonderful if someone has survived breast cancer, but to an employer
you may look like a health risk. It's great that someone is active
in politics, but an employer may not look too fondly on your
efforts to legalise marijuana."
Harris Interactive polled 2,266 on-line adults in the research
which was commissioned by metasearch engine Dogpile.
