Inc.com’s Job Applicants Fear Impact of Online Behavior offers this (my emphasis):
Job Hunting in the Digital Age, a poll of about 600 current employees conducted by Harris Interactive for Adecco USA, found that 66 percent of workers in Generation Y (ages 18 to 29) are oblivious to the online background checks employers do to research potential employees. In comparison, only 40 percent of baby boomers (ages 43 to 61) are unaware of such searches.
How can this be? Gen Y is oblivious to online background checks? Later in the article:
Therefore, more baby boomers make the effort to keep up with the latest hiring trends, as opposed to those in Generation Y just entering the workforce, according to Kenny.
Interesting, but I think we are actually observing a sea change in the work force. Gen Y is composed of young people who take electronic networking to a new level. Whether it be myspace.com or text messaging, they are focused on connecting with others on a personal level.
Gen Y’s approach is a bit disarming to us Xer’s and Boomers. I think Gen Y actually values their online information and won’t remove it from the public. They want to share that information with their friends to the point they value their network over a new career opportunity.
So the question becomes What do you do with this information? Should it be left out of a hiring decision since it is personal? Or should it be part of the background verification in regards to an offer?
I haven’t come to my own conclusion yet.