News You Can Use: Digging up dirt on candidates? You're not the only one.

One in five employers use social networking sites to find information on potential new hires, says a new survey from CareerBuilder.com. Twenty-two percent of employers screened candidates in 2007, up from just 11% in 2006. An additional nine percent plan to start soon.

Perhaps what's more frightening is that 34% of hiring managers found something in a social networking site that caused them to remove a candidate from consideration.

Top reasons included:

1. Information about drinking or using drugs (41%)
2. Provocative or inappropriate photographs (40%)
3. Lied about qualifications (27%)
4. Candidate used discriminatory remarks about race, gender, ect. (22%)
5. Candidate's screen name was unprofessional (22%)
   
6. Links to criminal behavior (21%)
   

However, there may be an upside. One in four, or 24%, of hiring managers found something in a social networking site that supported a potential hire's candidacy.

Top factors included:

1. Background supports qualifications for job (48%)
2. Candidate's site conveyed professional image (36%)
3. Candidate had great references posted by others (31%)
4. Profile showed creativity (24%)