• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, March 12, 2010

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.

This study explores the attitudes of consumers, HR professionals, and recruiters on the subject of online reputation. Highlights of the study's findings include:

• The recruiters and HR professionals surveyed are not only checking online sources to learn about potential candidates, but they also report that their companies have made online screening a formal requirement of the hiring process. Of U.S. recruiters and HR professionals surveyed, 70% say they have rejected candidates based on information they found online.
• Recruiters and HR professionals surveyed report being very or somewhat concerned about the authenticity of the content they find.
• In all countries, recruiters and HR professionals say they believe the use of online reputational information will significantly increase over the next five years.
• Positive online reputations matter. Among U.S. recruiters and HR professionals surveyed, 85% say that positive online reputation influences their hiring decisions at least to some extent. Nearly half say that a strong online reputation influences their decisions to a great extent.

From the consumer viewpoint:

• Consumers surveyed have mixed opinions about the appropriateness of recruiters and HR professionals examining some types of online content. Most consumers find it reasonable that recruiters and HR professionals check information on professional sites. There is greater concern, however, about recruiter scrutiny of photos, videos, and other personal content including blogs, personal social network pages, organizations they are affiliated with, financial information, and the like.
• Consumers surveyed use a variety of methods to monitor and manage the information posted about them online. Most notably, they use multiple personas, search for information about themselves, adjust privacy settings, and refrain from posting content that they believe could damage their reputation.
• Though most consumers surveyed do manage their reputation at least to some extent, there are a significant percentage of respondents (between 30% and 35% depending on nationality) who don't feel their online reputation affects either their personal or professional life, and are not taking steps to manage their reputations.

Of the U.S. recruiters and HR professionals surveyed, 75% report that their companies have formal policies in place that require hiring personnel to research applicants online, and 79% of U.S. recruiters check on online reputational data. In the U.S. 86% of male recruiters and HR professionals review online  reputational data, though only 61% of women do so.

In the United States, 89% of recruiters and HR professionals surveyed find it appropriate to consider professional online data when assessing a candidate; 84% of them think it is proper to consider personal data posted online.

There are noteworthy differences between the types of sites that consumers surveyed think are appropriate for recruiters and HR professionals to examine and the types chosen to investigate.

• Only 15% of U.S. consumers surveyed think it is very appropriate that employers review candidates' photo and video sharing sites, while 25% think it is somewhat appropriate, and 44% think it is somewhat or very inappropriate. Yet, 59% percent of recruiters and HR professionals surveyed check these sites.
• 43% of those U.S. consumers surveyed think reviews of social networking sites are very to somewhat appropriate, and an equal number find it very to somewhat inappropriate.
• Among those surveyed who are 18 to 24 years of age, the percentage of those who think it is inappropriate for recruiters and HR professionals to check these sites jumps to 56% of those surveyed. Yet 63% of recruiters and HR professionals surveyed review these sites.
• 64% of U.S. respondents say that it is very to somewhat appropriate for recruiters and HR professionals to look at these sites. Interestingly, only 57% of U.S. recruiters and HR professionals surveyed actually do so.

Areas of online information that stir the most controversy among respondents in the United States when reviewed by recruiters and HR professionals for reputational information include:

• Online gaming (only 23% of users find this very to somewhat appropriate)
• Virtual worlds (only 25% of users find this very to somewhat appropriate)
• Classifieds and auction sites like Amazon, eBay, Craigslist, etc. (only 28% of users find this very to somewhat appropriate)

Yet on average one in four U.S. recruiters and HR professionals surveyed reviewed these sites for applicant information. In fact, online searches by recruiters and HR professionals are so prevalent in the United States that only 2% of those surveyed did not research any of the types of sites listed in the table below.

Percent Of Recruiters And HR Professionals Who Use These Types Of Sites When Researching Applicants
Site Researched	% Professionals Using
Search engines	78%
Social networking sites	63%
Photo and video sharing sites	59%
Professional and business networking sites	57%
Personal Web sites	48%
Blogs	46%
News sharing sites (e.g. Twitter)	41%
Online forums and communities	34%
Virtual world sites	32%
Web sites that aggregate personal information	32%
Online gaming sites	27%
Professional background checking services	27%
Classifieds and auction sites	25%
None of these	2%
Source: Microsoft, February 2010

Concerns about lifestyle, inappropriate comments, and unsuitable photos and videos top the list of reasons that those surveyed give for rejecting a candidate. But they also rejected applicants because of inappropriate comments by friends, family, and colleagues, or based on membership in certain groups.

U.S. Recruiters and HR Professionals Reasons for Candidate Rejection
Reason	% of Respondents Selecting Reason
Concerns about the candidate's lifestyle	58%
Inappropriate comments and text written by the candidate	56%
Unsuitable photos , videos, and information	55%
Inappropriate comments or text written by friends and relatives	43%
Comments criticizing previous employers, co-workers, or clients	40%
Inappropriate comments or text written by colleagues or work acquaintances	40%
Membership in certain groups and networks	35%
Discovered that information the candidate shared was false	30%
Poor communication skills displayed online	27%
Concern about the candidate's financial background	16%
Source: Microsoft, February 2010

The good news for applicants is that creating a strong, positive personal brand online can have a positive impact on their applications. In the United States, 86% of human resources professionals surveyed stated that a positive online reputation influences the candidate's application to some extent; almost half stated that it does so to a great extent.

Though nearly 70% of respondents from each country reported they had not posted content (including text, video or photos) in the last six months they came to regret, only 39% of U.S. males and 54% of U.S. women said they always considered their online reputation when posting Web content.

Finally, of particular concern is the depth and breadth of information that recruiters are seeking about candidates. Traditionally, recruiters have had clear restrictions on the types of information they can ask candidates. This included restrictions on asking about their families, their affiliation to religious, political or other groups, their financial situation, medical condition, and so on.

Now, recruiters can easily and anonymously collect information that they would not be permitted to ask in an interview, and the survey found that recruiters are doing just that.

For more information, including charts, please visit Microsoft Data here.