Job-seekers beware

Employers search online profiles for indiscretion. Online social networking allows self-expression, the free exchange of ideas, political speech and other activities we newspaper types encourage.

But many of the young adults who post on MySpace and the like aren’t going to work for us. The companies today’s youths would one day like to join – the Boeings and Targets of the world- review candidates’ online profiles in search of unsound character, poor judgment and immorality.

And plenty of young adults, who presumably could sell the heck out of pharmaceuticals or design cutting-edge airplane software, aren’t getting jobs thanks to their less-than-puritan online personalities, according to the Sunday Business section.

Hiring directors are understandably looking for workers who will not embarrass the company in front of clients or the public. So before college students post videos of drunken nights in T.J. on Youtube, details about their awful ex on MySpace or their distaste for their bosses on Friendster, they may want to remember that those who sign paychecks have Internet access and nosy HR departments to screen candidates.

The degrees to which employers go to retrace online tracks vary. Some keep Internet searches simple by plugging candidates’ names into Yahoo! and Google. Others hire private detectives.

Job-seekers should become vigilant about protecting their online identities, Google themselves regularly and remove offensive or immature material, especially if they are going into pin-striped fields like accounting or law.

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Removing online information is much like removing a tattoo: It leaves a scar. Deleted material can survive search-engine cache and on “wayback” Web sites that return to earlier points in Web history. Those who may one day need a security clearance should think long and hard about what they post.

We don’t really like encouraging young people to white-wash their online identities. By doing so we feel a bit like yesteryear’s parents warning kids not to watch Elvis shaking his hips on TV, but we recognize that employers might be a bit uptight about seeing their new charges semi-naked online.

Today’s college students – just like yesterday’s – drink heavily, voice strong political opinions, dress provocatively and listen to music no one else gets. The only difference is that their version of Woodstock is online.

But it is the World War II, boomer and X generations doing much of today’s hiring. Generation Y is going to need to conform a bit if it wants to work for older, established companies. At the same time, we suggest that employers lighten up a bit and remember that they too once did embarrassing things that predate Google.

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