Your resume may be overshadowed by your online persona:
Tips for jobseekers

The resume was printed on 32-pound off-white paper, the cover letter personally tailored to the employer and the follow-up call placed. So why is the employer removing you from consideration for the job?

The answer may be your personal profile on Facebook, MySpace, Friendster or your own website or blog. News stories report an increase in employers who "google" prospective employees. The employer thinks of this as a cheap and convenient background check.

Unfortunately for the job applicant, this type of background check is not covered by the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). The protections offered by the FCRA only apply if an employer uses a third-party screening company to conduct the background check. In the case of Internet searches, the employer is the one doing the screening. Because the FCRA does not apply, the employer does not have a legal obligation to tell the applicant that the Internet search led to their disqualification.

This is troubling for many reasons. First, unlike legitimate background check companies, Web sites do not have a duty to investigate potential errors and correct misinformation. Therefore, an employer has no way of knowing if an applicant's profile is authentic. Using such information against the applicant without giving the job seeker a chance to explain or correct the information is unfair, to say the least.

Second, many of these sites are supposed to be limited to students or require passwords. A New York Times article reported that one employer used his intern's email account to access an applicant's Facebook profile. Facebook's college network is restricted to users who have an email account ending in ìedu.î

Our advice? If possible, job applicants should remove all profiles from the Internet. Apparently, relying on privacy settings alone will not deter all employers. You can never be sure whether one of your hundreds of friends tied to your MySpace account is the boss' son.

Although news articles focus on employers' disapproval of references to drinking and partying found in online profiles, the widespread use of search engine background checks raises questions about discrimination. There are many things that an employer can find out on the Internet that are prohibited from being discussed at an interview. If you do not want your employer to know your age, religion, race or ethnicity, sexual orientation, or political affiliation you may want to remove Internet references to these groups.

A special note for employers: Reliance on search engines to determine an applicant's qualifications is troubling from a number of perspectives. At the very least, it is likely to give you the wrong picture. Many things that are published on the Internet are never removed -- even if the information is incorrect or is no longer accurate. In the past, youthful indiscretions were forgotten. Now they can be preserved in perpetuity. But does that photo of a pierced and tattooed youth give you a reliable picture of the job applicant? Don't bet on it.

Allowing an impersonal Internet page to be the guiding force in selecting employees is, in our opinion, a grave mistake. Trust your own instincts and common sense when interviewing candidates. And adhere to ethical guidelines and the law when hiring. Use a professional employment screening company, one versant in the FCRA. (You can find one at www.napbs.com)

Above all, follow the law. Get permission, and be sure to let the applicant know if the background check caused you to reject him or her. Allowing the applicant the opportunity to review the background check and correct any errors will save someone a lot of heartache and may net you a loyal employee.

For more information on the law on background checks, see our Fact Sheet 16, a guide for jobseekers, www.privacyrights.org/fs/fs16a-califbck.htm and our Fact Sheet 16b for small businesses, available at: www.privacyrights.org/fs/fs16b-smallbus.htm.