Kimberly Shea and Jill Wesley, career services consultants with the Center for Career Opportunities at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, conducted a survey of students and employers to find out more about the use of social networking sites, such as Facebook, Friendster, MySpace, and LiveJournal.

Shea and Wesley asked students what types of online technology they use and whether they thought prospective employers use social networking sites to evaluate candidates. Employers who participated in Purdue job fairs and on-campus recruiting were asked what online resources they use to screen candidates and how results of these screenings may have affected their employment decisions.

Results showed that 95 percent of the students surveyed would be comfortable with what an employer would find out about them through a search of Google or other search engines. However, students' answers varied when asked about showing their profiles on social networking sites to potential employers. Some students said they would revise their profiles first and others were unwilling to share their profiles.

Among those students that think employers are using search engines to screen candidates, fewer students thought employers would use social networking sites for the same purpose. However, 50 percent of employers surveyed reported using some sort of online technology to screen candidates, and 7 percent said they do not currently use this screening method, but plan to start.

How social networking sites affect the job search and the candidate screening process is only beginning to be explored and reported, but if trends continue, this use is bound to increase, the authors say. And, career services professionals should help students use these online tools effectively and encourage employers to get involved in the discussion.