Social problems abound for job seekers
While online privacy is often discussed as an abstract notion, it is a very real issue for those looking for a job.
A survey last week by RecruitIreland.com found that almost half of job interviewers researched job applicants online.
The survey found that one in five recruiters had rejected a candidate because of something they had seen online.
This should worry jobseekers, 65 per cent of whom have either a Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn account.
The checks carried out by job interviewers range from Facebook searches to tweets, blog posts and LinkedIn profiles.
Interviewers who have rejected candidates based on social networking searches also revealed the reasons behind their rejections.
These included uncovering comments which would conflict with their business ethos, evidence of lying on a CV or offensive comments about their existing employer.
The survey also found that a quarter of jobseekers surveyed knew someone who had been reprimanded at work as a result of their online activity.
