Nearly half of HR look to online for candidate information

 

But the figure contrasts markedly with the mere 9% of consumers who believe that internet-based data has any impact on their job prospects. 

 

Although such a finding appears to indicate that applicants significantly underestimate the amount of online research that employers undertake nowadays, in reality, a huge 48% of UK respondents said that their companies have formal policies in place requiring them to research the background of applicants online. 

 

Bizarrely, however, it appears that men are nearly twice as likely as women to undertake reputational searches on the internet. A huge 56% of males confessed that they undertook the activity routinely compared with only 32% of females.

 

As to what information was most likely to turn HR professionals off, top of the list were inappropriate comments and text written by the candidate (57%).