Nearly half of US employers research the online profiles of job candidates on social networks such as Facebook, MySpace or LinkedIn, according to a new survey.

    Forty-five percent of the employers surveyed for CareerBuilder.com, the largest US online job site, said they use social networking sites to check on job candidates, up from just 22 percent in a survey conducted last year.

    Another 11 percent said they plan to start using social networking sites for screening.

    "As social networking grows increasingly pervasive, more employers are utilizing these sites to screen potential employees," CareerBuilder said in a statement.

    It said job seekers should "be mindful of the information they post online."

    CareerBuilder said that of those who conduct online searches as background checks on job candidates, 29 percent use Facebook, 26 percent use LinkedIn and 21 percent use MySpace.

    Eleven percent search blogs while seven percent follow candidates on micro-blogging service Twitter.

    Thirty-five percent of those surveyed said they have found content on a social network that caused them not to hire a candidate, CareerBuilder said.

    Examples included "provocative or inappropriate photographs or information" or content about drinking or using drugs.

    Other reasons cited were badmouthing a previous employer, co-workers or clients, poor communication skills, making discriminatory comments, lying about qualifications or sharing confidential information from a previous employer.

    Information found on social networking profiles was not always a negative factor in finding a job.

    Eighteen percent of employers said they have found content on social networking sites that caused them to hire the candidate, CareerBuilder said.

    Some profiles "provided a good feel for the candidate's personality" or supported their professional qualifications while others demonstrated creativity or solid communication skills.

    Rosemary Haefner, vice president of human resources at CareerBuilder, recommended that candidates "clean up digital dirt" before beginning a job search by removing photos, content and links which could hurt their chances.

    The survey of 2,667 hiring managers and human resource professionals was conducted by Harris Interactive between May 22 and June 10. It has a sampling error of plus or minus 1.9 percentage points.

    一項最新調查顯示，美國近一半的雇主會上Facebook、MySpace或LinkedIn這樣的社交網站搜索應聘者的在線資料。

    這項為美國最大的求職網站CareerBuilder.com開展的調查顯示，45%的受訪雇主稱他們通過社交網站來查看求職者的信息，這一比例較之去年的22%有所提高。

    另有11%的雇主稱他們打算開始使用社交網站來篩選人才。

    CareerBuilder網站在一份聲明中說："由于社交網站日趨流行，如今越來越多的雇主使用這些網站來篩選潛在雇員。"

    聲明稱，求職者應"注意他們貼在網上的個人資料".

    CareerBuilder網站稱，在那些通過網絡核查職位候選人背景的雇主中，有29%的人使用Facebook,26%的人使用LinkedIn,21%使用MySpace.

    11%的雇主進行博客搜索，7%的人在微型博客網站Twitter上對職位候選人進行跟蹤。

    CareerBuilder網站說，在受訪雇主中，有35%的人說他們在社交網站中發現過一些導致他們決定不雇傭某個候選人的內容。

    這樣的例子包括"挑釁或不雅的照片或信息",或是一些有關酗酒或吸毒的內容。

    其他一些被列舉的原因包括惡意攻擊前雇主、同事或客戶，拙劣的交流技巧，發表歧視性言論，謊報資質或是泄露從前雇主那得知的機密信息等等。

    但雇主從社交網絡上了解的信息并不總是這么消極。

    CareerBuilder 網站稱，18%的雇主說他們在社交網站上發現過讓他們決定雇傭某位應聘者的內容。

    一些（候選人）的個人資料"讓人對他們的個性產生好感"或是證明了他們的專業資質，而另外一些信息則顯示出了候選人的創造性或良好的溝通技巧。

    CareerBuilder網站人力資源部副總監羅絲瑪麗？海弗娜建議求職者在開始找工作之前先"清理網上垃圾",刪除可能影響他們就業機會的照片、內容和鏈接。

    這項對2667名招聘經理和人力專員的調查由哈里斯互動調查公司開展，于5月22日至6月10之間進行。該調查的抽樣誤差為正負1.9個百分點。