Swedish recruiters check jobseekers on the net

40 percent of recruiters are checking potential employee’s social networking pages during the hiring process, a figure which has shot up from last year, according to a recent report.

• Swedish rapper reported for Twitter death threat (24 May 12)
• Swedish man apologized for rape on Facebook (22 May 12)
• Police bashed for 'racist' Facebook comments (18 May 12)

“It’s advisable that people think twice about the self-image they allow on the net,” said Johan Treschow of the chamber of commerce, to Dagens Nyheter (DN) newspaper.

The report, from the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce (Handelskammaren) and the information company InfoTorg, has found that employers are keeping a very close eye on those applying for jobs.

In fact, one in four recruiters has used the social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook as a source over the last year, up from 33 percent the year before, and ten percent in 2008, when the surveys began.

The report comes from a survey of 892 companies, which was carried out in January this year.

The findings show that it is much more common for private companies to search for information on Facebook (42 percent) than public sector employers (32 percent).

As many people keep private Facebook accounts, researches noted that the statistics would be even higher if employers had access to the candidates’ information.

On top of the social networking background checks, the report showed that 97 percent of employers do reference checks, and 91 percent confirm their previous employment. 72 percent of employers confirm the candidate’s education.

“With every passing year, more companies are becoming conscious of the fact that Facebook and Google are resources in the controlling of job candidates. And so workers must think of what information they’re putting out there,” Treschow said to DN.