Focus on: Facebook and Google

Facebook.com, myspace.com and other similar social networking sites can be a fun way to meet people, talk about issues or advertise events, but it can also affect your career – positively or negatively.

You can certainly use your accounts to highlight information you wish to share with employers, such as job experience, volunteer activities, academic accomplishments and so on. But most students are concerned about how these sites can adversely affect their job opportunities.

Brian Krueger, president of CollegeGrad.com, says that although some employers are looking up potential candidates on Facebook.com and similar sites, even more are "Googling" potential employees. Employers are also using the resume page of a candidate and then back-tracking it to the person's primary page, which may be filled with all sorts of interesting tidbits about the potential hire.

Because searching about a potential hire is so easy, Krueger recommends that any new job seeker clean up the personal Web sites they control. He also suggests you "Google" yourself to see if information or photos (yikes!) are posted on someone else's site. If something less than professional is posted, politely ask the individual to remove the information. Your future employer views you as an extension of the company, a public projection of the type of workers that the company employs. You need to make sure your background is spotless.

In the end, as Krueger says, "The rule is simple: If you don't want information known about you (by an employer or anyone else), don't post it online." By taking personal responsibility for your account(s), you can enhance your future career and make the most of this new opportunity.