The business social networking website, Viadeo, has launched a viral video campaign to alert people to the need to manage their internet reputation or 'net rep'.

Featuring a young man being interviewed, it shows the potential damaging effects on future job prospects of posting videos, photos or information online (view it at uk.youtube.com).

Peter Cunningham, UK country manager of Viadeo, hoped the campaign would be a wake-up call to encourage people to manage their net rep more closely.

Recent research carried out by Viadeo found that one in five employers have searched for, and found, personal information about candidates on the web and 59% said that it influenced their recruitment decision.

A quarter of HR decision-makers have rejected an applicant based on 'dubious' personal information. Candidates should be made aware that such information is in the public domain and be reminded that recruiters are operating with "routine due diligence" by searching it out, Cunningham told Recruiter.

Moreoever, he said that recruiters could be accused of negligence if they didn't check publicly available information on a candidate that is available free-of-charge, within a few clicks of an internet browser.

Cunningham added: "We can imagine a situation where a candidate is employed and then acts unethically and on further investigation is found to have lied on their CV. Had someone simply checked their name on Google, he or she would have found entries in social or professional networks that contradict the information on their CV."

Cunningham hoped the campaign would encourage individuals to use business social networking sites to build a career-focused profile that works to their advantage when job hunting.

Bournemouth-based recruiting consultancy, More Consultancy Group, agreed that net reps are important but adds a note of caution for employers. "We are all aware of the impact the internet has on our social lives but most candidates are not aware how easy it is to Google someone," More Consultancy Group office manager, Ruth Griffiths, told Recruiter.

"It can be a potentially useful resource for employers to look at how their new recruits behave at the weekend. But, we believe that employers should be careful — videos and photos uploaded to sites like YouTube and MySpace are not always a true reflection of what a candidate is like between 9am and 5pm, Monday to Friday."

www.viadeo.com

www.more-group.co.uk