66% of Job Seekers Lose Interest Due to Poor On-line Reputations of Employers

Everyone understands the importance of a positive on-line reputation when looking for a job. Recruiters and human resource professionals frequently review publicly available information on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter when evaluating job applicants. However, hiring managers might be surprised to find out job seekers are checking out the on-line reputations of the employers even before applying or interviewing for a job and that a large majority of those job seekers report losing interest in a potential employment opportunity because of the employer’s poor on-line reputation.

In a recent survey of 4,000 people looking for new jobs during the previous 12 months by the Corporate Executive Board, 66 percent responded that they lost interest in a potential employer because of something they learned on-line. The search for a new job has moved beyond job fairs and classified advertising to the social web. Popular job search sites like CareerBuilder, CollegeRecruiter.com, and Monster.com remain a starting point for many. Now job applicants also search potential employers by going to company review sites, like Glassdoor.com — a partner of CollegeRecruiter.com — and checking with friends and acquaintances on social networking sites to inquire about lifestyle, compensation and corporate culture.

It is more important than ever for companies to monitor and manage their online reputation and respond to online defamation by disgruntled ex-employees and anonymous postings by competitors and other rivals. “Negative reviews damage a company’s reputation and impact sales, but they also hurt employee morale and make it more difficult to attract the best job applicants,” explains Reputation Rhino founder and CEO, Todd William.

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3. Most Job Seekers Want Mobile Yet Few Employers Seem to Care
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