Almost half of UK-based HR managers have looked at prospective employees’ social networking profiles and chosen not to hire a candidate as a result of seeing something untoward, according to a new survey from Microsoft.

As reported in The Recruiter, 41% of HR managers have rejected a candidate due to their online profile and almost two-thirds (64%) believe it is appropriate to consider personal online reputational information while evaluating potential employees.

To coincide with Data Protection Day 2010, the study, which surveyed consumers and HR managers, examined the real-life consequences that online reputation has for job-seekers. As Neville Hobson pointed out in his coverage of the study, the report shows fantastic insight into the effect online behaviour has on offline opinion.

As a candidate, failing to be aware of your online presence clearly has serious implications. But despite this stark warning, just 37 per cent of job hunters believe that the responsibility for protecting their online reputation lies solely with them.

Cliff Evans, head of privacy and security at Microsoft UK, said: “Ignoring your online reputation is no longer an option. Reputation and information sharing as a privacy issue should be a major concern for individuals, particularly in a challenging economic environment where jobs are scarce.”

This is an issue that rises to the surface every so often (most recently, the case of the girl that posted negative comments about her boss on Facebook and got fired for it), but is becomingly increasingly important. The secret lies with education from the beginning, and needs to be treated seriously by those responsible for introducing students to the wonders – and dangers – of technology.