Here’s an update to my narcissurfing blog article.

I was in a workshop recently where the presenter provided the following statistics:

• 83% of recruiters admit to running candidates names through search engines.
• 43% of candidates are eliminated based on the information they find on-line.

What type of information are they looking for? Anything that suggests a comprise of ethics, inappropriate actions/behavior, or any resume discrepancies.

For example, a CIO was just about to offer a candidate a senior-level manager position with his team. The candidate’s references had been checked, and he appeared to have all the experience the CIO was seeking. Until the CIO googled the candidate’s name.

In the google results, he found a tech user group to which the candidate had been a regular contributor. The CIO started digging around, reading the candidate’s comments and questions. Something was fishy. The technical questions the candidate was asking were not at the level expected of a senior-level manager. As a matter of fact, the candidate unwittingly revealed to the user group that he actually had less experience than he had stated on his resume.

The candidate did not receive a job offer.