The perilous Internet

The Internet is a wonderful world. It can provide job opportunities, new ways of conducting business, social networking and endless information for research. It can also be a trap for prospective job seekers, and a window which provides unvarnished insight to employers.

Many human resources offices these days use the Internet to research the background of potential employees. And that may result in lost opportunities for job seekers if they have posted an indiscreet Facebook item, a tweet, a blog item, a photo, video or controversial online comment.

Words, photos and videos do not disappear in cyberspace. They have a very long life and may not appear as funny or insightful to an employer as it may be to friends. Regardless of the past, it's time to start fresh and think twice about the how to use the online world if you are looking for a job or may be doing so in the future.

The best thing to do right now is to conduct your own online search, looking for any piece of information that may cost you a job. Confront it at an interview if it seems a prudent course and if you get that far, and in the meantime, see if it can be scrubbed off of a site. The situation has become all too commonplace. Plenty of people have commented too quickly online, failed to self-censure their views, posted an off-color joke or put up revealing photos that may not seem appropriate to an employer.

And if you are the employer doing a background check on a job applicant, remember this: You may have walked down this road once yourself, before you realized the perilous dangers of the Internet. Sometimes such posting may be a way to judge character. Other times, it may be unfair to a well-qualified candidate.

So be forewarned. Keep it clean and smart. Exercise caution before posting messages, photos and videos. And remember that most things stick in cyberspace. - Judi