Taking IT courses could improve job prospects

28 Jan 2010

HR managers are finding out about applicants online, meaning IT skills could be useful

Taking some IT courses and becoming web literate could be important in finding employment.

Research by Microsoft suggests that 64 per cent of HR managers believe it is acceptable to find out more about a candidate by trawling the internet for information about them.

In addition to this, 41 per cent said that they had rejected a candidate because of information they had found on the internet, while, on the other side, only 37 per cent of individuals thought it was their responsibility to protect their online reputation.

Cliff Evans, head of privacy and security at Microsoft UK, said: "Social media, search and other online services offer tremendous benefits, but to safely embrace these services, people need to monitor and cultivate their online reputation."

Services such as Facebook and Twitter leave a large digital imprint that could reveal more than one might expect and there has recently been controversy about what sort of privacy settings should be applied to them.

A PC Basics course could be a way of quickly becoming a savvy web user and is available through ICS.

Posted by Christopher Comfort