LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KTHV) - Applicants beware, research shows more employers could snoop through your facebook and twitter accounts before hiring. Gartner Technology Research suggests that by 2015, 60 percent of employers will monitor social media.
UALR Senior, Amber Standridge, uses social media to keep people in the know about her study abroad trip. The communications major is a year away from taking on the job market, but she's already taking steps to shore up her online reputation.
"I have all my privacy settings set as high as possible, but I don't post anything that would be inappropriate," says Standridge.
Standridge is ahead of the curve says Lance Restum of GDH Consulting.
"Everybody gets googled, everybody gets searched through facebook, myspace, linkedin and a lot of that has to do with validity. You don't want to lie on there, you don't want to lie in an interview and if you're lying to me, I can figure it out," says Restum.
Restum works as a head hunter and says more and more employers want applicants' online background made available.
"We do everything we can to check somebody out to credential them and employers are asking more and more for us to use social media sites," says Restum.
UALR Junior, Erica Patterson, hopes to be a middle school teacher soon and says her online profile is scrutinized even more in the education field.
"It's definitely more important to know what's on your page, to be cautious of what you put on there because you're going to be teaching someone's kid," says Patterson.
For Standridge, her social media content comes down to one rule.
"If it's okay for my grandmother to see, it's okay for anybody to see," says Standridge.
GDH Consulting tells Today's THV some employers are even asking for applicants' facebook passwords, so they can freely check out what they're posting.