NO SECRETS: It's not uncommon for job recruiters to peruse online networking sites, so it might be time to remove those spring break pictures from your profile.

Byline: Julie Forster

Mar. 10--Worried that potential employers might peruse online postings at Facebook, Steve Lindgren used privacy settings to shut off access to his profile, pictures and musings to all but a limited circle of friends. His friends will see that his favorite quote comes from Homer Simpson, that he makes a mean PB&J sandwich and they'll see photos of his travels and "random partying." All college humor type of stuff, Lindgren says, acknowledging that it's still not anything he'd want an employer to see. "I'm not ashamed of anything, but it would be easy to get a different perspective of who I am," said the 22-year-old St. Cloud State University senior who is interviewing for finance jobs. "If I am directing it towards my friends, employers are probably not going to be too impressed with the profile." As more students and young job seekers turn to social networking sites like MySpace, Friendster and Facebook to connect with friends and write about their personal lives, employers and recruiters are following right behind. They are tapping into Internet search engines to cull information about job candidates. Job seekers have reason to worry: In some cases employers and recruiters are using the information to weed out candidates.

Three-quarters of 102 executive recruiters surveyed last fall by ExecuNet, of Norwalk, Conn. said they use search engines as part of the process to uncover information about job candidates. More than one in four said they have eliminated candidates because of what they found about the person on the Internet. There's an explosion in the amount of personal material being launched into cyberspace by people who seemingly have no qualms about revealing details of their sexual escapades or not-so-hidden desires. They'll carry digital cameras to bars and parties and post photos of drunken friends to their Web pages and to those of their friends. On one MySpace posting, a 19-year-old Wisconsin woman writes about her pastimes: "I def. like to party C* I don't smoke but I drink a lot C* like a lot." In a few years, Internet searches on job candidates will become even more commonplace, predicts Minneapolis employment attorney Tamara Olsen. She advises those who bare their souls and, um, other things online should consider the consequences. "The Internet is like a billboard or painting on the side of a building," said Olsen, who advises companies on electronic communication issues. "But because people are doing the communicating from a computer in their bedroom, ...