Profile protection p1 - Military Transition - Military Times EDGE

You may never know the effect your MySpace page is having on your career, according to the findings of a recent survey.

More than a third of hiring professionals polled by the Society for Human Resource Management said in October 2008 that they use Internet search engines and social networking Web sites, such as MySpace, Facebook and LinkedIn, to recruit — and screen — new employees.

And they may look you up more than once. The report found that 47 percent of those who do screen applicants on social networking sites look you up before they contact you the first time; 41 percent after contacting you but prior to the first interview; and 37 percent after the interview but before making a job offer.

The bottom line: Don’t post anything online that you’d be embarrassed to see on a hiring manager’s computer screen.