November 2, 2007

Plenty of young men and women are signed up for social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace but you may be surprised to find out that it could cost you your job.

It's an issue that many don't even think about who are either entering or are already in the workforce but what you put about yourself online could cost you in real life.

It's a practice that's becoming more and more common among employers. looking up the profiles of potential employees and determining whether or not to hire that person based on what is seen on their page.

Depending on what an employer finds could be a deciding factor on whether or not you get that job and it's not only affecting potential employees. The cyber security site whoswatchingcharlottesville.org says that it could even cost you your job with your current employer.

"I think there's a false sense of security of privacy especially among young people that sites like that are intended for them and their friends and the rest of the world can't see it. So they have to realize that when they post something about themselves they have to think about who's really watching me online" said Lauren McSwain-Starrett, a PR Specialist.

"Absolutely, of those employers who are doing these sorts of searches. a third of these searches lead to rejections for these candidates" said Marty Peterman, IT Security at UVa.

Peterman also says that what you put online should really be an extension of your resume. If you would like more tips about how to safeguard yourself on the web just click on the link below.