Myspace.com, facebook.com, LinkedIN.com and other social network sites may be costing you a job or even affecting your business relationships. Job recruiters and potential business partners are not only looking at your resume online but your social network profile, postings, music, and pictures for clues about you. They use it to see if you are a best fit for a job position. It has not become a routine for personality checks.

On your LinkedIn.com profile you may have quite a few professional contacts. This may be a clue that you love to socialize and you were well liked by your co-workers. If your contacts at a previous jobs show many different companies it may also show instability because you had many jobs. In some case you may have been a consultant but a social network may not show this. Some employers may even contact your friends for references.

Myspace.com and facebook.com is where the true personality test takes place. Because these sites are not professional social networks job recruiters use these sites to see who you really are. They look at the type of friends you have, the music you listen to and the pictures you post to see what social groups you fit in and your social behaviors. Imagine a potential employer coming to your Myspace.com site with the background picture of a half-naked woman “skinning” out.  Imagine the impression you give if the background music is fully of vulgar profanities.  Perhaps you have videos showing women doing the “dutty wine”. Maybe the icons you use in facebook.com are provocative. What if an employer became your friend and you forwarded a bigoted joke?

Your postings on these social networks also give potential employers insight on your psyche and personality.  They can see your writing style by your postings. Are you sarcastic or humorous or negative or positive? It may show in the posting you leave on these social network sites.

Candid Personal life discussion can be the most damaging evidence job recruiters have when building a profile of you.  Don’t leave your dirty laundry for everyone to see, it will hurt you. It will alert a recruiter that you cannot be tightlipped about sensitive company matters. Be selective about the type of information you share.

In today’s world everyone leaves a footprint on the web. The key is to be careful of the footprint you leave for potential employers as it can be a snap shot of your personality and integrity.