The results show that graduates need to be careful about how much of their personal life they display on the sites.

Two thirds of the employers surveyed by Badenoch & Clark said contents on the sites influenced their recruiting decision, and a quarter said they have gone back on a decision because of what they have found online.

According to the networking site Viadeo, one in five employers look at profiles on these sites to find information on candidates and look at how they present themselves.

A total of 23,264 people are a part of the University of Sheffield network on Facebook.

So far there have been no complaints to the Careers Service that Facebook has prevented students getting jobs, however the Careers Service have several warnings for students.

Judy Everett, from the University of Sheffield Careers Service, said: "I think students need to take care and assume that anything that is unprotected with privacy set-ups could be open to employers.

"I would be particularly concerned about inappropriate comments about current or previous employers because that could indicate that students could be untrustworthy as potential employees.

"My advice is to make sure that personal information available on the Web would not seriously damage your reputation as a potential employee. Don't publish anything that could create a substantial prejudice against you."

Tom Bramall, the Union's Welfare Officer, believes students need to take care with Facebook as well, but places some of the responsibility to the site's administrators.

He said: "Facebook is good for some things, but not all. Use it to organise your social life, but be careful. You shouldn't join regional networks.

"Facebook needs to do more in educating people about privacy settings. The problems aren't just with applying for jobs, as there's a real risk of fraud. It's dangerous when profiles have facts like your date of birth and phone number."

This term the University's Corporate Information and Computing Services (CiCS) is bringing in new security protocols online which will teach students about privacy settings on Facebook.

"Not everyone knows how to make Facebook private," Tom said. "I didn't know how to change my settings for quite a while."

"One of my biggest concerns with employers looking at Facebook is that it could lead to discriminatory practices. CVs don't say who's black or who has a history of illness."

Students are split on whether employers have the right to view students' profiles.

Stew Deering, a third year Mechanical Engineering student, said: "If people are putting their profiles open to the public, then they can't complain about anyone looking at it.

"Employers have the right, just like anyone else to view Facebook profiles. If you want something to be kept private, don't put it on Facebook!"

Hannah Sanderson, a third year Biomedical Science student, said: "Facebook is socially orientated so it's all very unfair. It's your personal life. Your profile doesn't show your work ethic.
"It's not a good reflection of the person because people always try to big themselves up in their profile.

"If other people are going to tag you in photos and write on your wall they can jeopardise your career."

CiCS information on Facebook privacy will be appearing on www.shef.ac.uk/cics/security/index.html in the next couple of weeks.


This story is from the University of Sheffield's student paper, the Steel Press. Visit their webpage for more stories.