Your Life Could Be An Open Book

According to a report that summarizes Online Reputation Research, commissioned by Microsoft, fewer than 15% of consumers surveyed in the U.S. and the U.K. believe that information found online would have an impact on their getting a job.

Those consumers surveyed significantly underestimate the level of data mining that recruiters and HR professionals conduct and the impact it can have on hiring. In the United States and U.K., recruiters and HR professionals surveyed are likely to research candidate behavior online and report markedly high rates of candidate rejections based on their findings. Comparatively, only 7% of U.S. consumers surveyed believe information about them online affected their job search, while 70%% of U.S. recruiters and HR professionals have rejected candidates based on information they found online.