Managing your online identity when unemployment is rising is critical. Did you know that according to a 2006 survey by ExecuNet, 77% of executive recruiters use the internet to research job candidates. Thirty-five percent of candidates were eliminated based on the search results. Similarly, one in five employers are using social network sites in the hiring process. Of those candidates who were screened, 34% of the managers found information which helped them remove applicants from consideration. On the flip side, 24% of managers found content which helped support the hiring decision.
One in ten employees are now required by their employer to market themselves on the internet. One in five employees state that their employers have policies regarding how employees present themselves online.
Furthermore, several companies now fire people based on what they find on the internet.  Almost all news articles which cite stories of people being fired from stuff found on MySpace or Facebook contain the sentiment, “I didn’t think anyone reads my blog” or “Why would people care what I have to say” or “It was just a joke”.
The fact is, that many people , including your employer, care what you have to say. Just ask David Noordewier. He was fired from Wal-mart for integrity issues for writing the following on his MySpace page, “Drop a bomb on all the Walmarts, trailer parks, ghettos, monster truck shows, and retarded fake “pro wrestling” events, and the average I.Q. score would probably double.” Funny, maybe, maybe not.

It depends on whether or not you believe the stereotype that all people who shop at Wal-Mart, live in the ghettos and trailer parks or attend truck shows have low IQ. It was enough for his employer to feel like they could fire him for cause.
After all, why would Wal-Mart want to offend its’ customer base. Where David, and most people like him went wrong was making the joke in the first place.

Now you might be asking yourself, “what happened to separation of work life and private life.” It’s gone. The fact of the matter is that in good times if you can be tied to the company and look like you could negatively impact the profits of the company, you are easy to get rid of. What’s worse, is that in tough economic times like we have today, employers need nothing more than a shoddy reason (if that) to justify cutting you in the latest reduction in force.
Your best strategy is to protect yourself from internet discrimination. WhooRu can help. WhooRu can track down all the information that is placed out on the internet and help you put your best foot forward.

Call WhooRu today to see how we can help you fully. 1-877-2WhooRu or ( 877-294-6678 ).
Join the discussion in the WhooRu community for further discussion on how to protect yourself from internet discrimination.
As always, be careful out there,

Aaron Francesconi
CEO and Founder of WhooRu

Growing Number Of Job Searches Disrupted By Digital Dirt
http://www.execunet.com/m_releases_content.cfm?id=3349

One-in-Five Employers Use Social Networking Sites to Research Job Candidates, CareerBuilder.com Survey finds
http://www.careerbuilder.com/share/aboutus/pressreleasesdetail.aspx