Have you been applying for jobs and getting mysteriously ignored for an abnormal length of time? You are certain that your resume is perfect, your cover letter is insightful and your references are superb. Your grades were stellar and your extracurricular activities beyond average. Your employment history is impressive and job titles provoke conversations and envy. What could possibly be holding you back?

It’s a brave new world out there and employers are taking steps to be just as innovative and trendy as you and your friends. It’s a been a longtime tactic to perform background checks and even credit history checks for some employers. Even an application at your local Wal-Mart will spur an intensive background check that is done by a professional agency.

This brings on the question of the legality of the background checks, criminal and court history look-ups, credit history reporting, motor vehicle and driving records, military reports and more. You can rest assured that most of this information is public and it is legal for an employer to access it freely. In the case of most background check items an employer will give you a piece of paper to sign giving them your agreement to allow any and all checks they deem necessary. For some jobs like teaching, social services and kid centered jobs it’s even the law to do these background checks.

There are some laws that protect you in different reporting categories. The Fair Credit Report Act sets some regulations as to how a credit check is done on a potential or current employee. The most protection you generally have is the need to fill out a form giving the employer the right to check your reports and use them in your hiring process. Beware though, the laws get looser and more sketchy when you are applying for a job that will pay more than $75,000 a year.

When you face reality, there is nothing new going on in the background checking mentioned. It has been going on for a long time and will only continue to get more invasive. Social media is opening up a whole new can of worms for employers to take a stab at. Without even mentioning the big name social networking sites yet, it’s obvious that employers have another powerful tool at hand, before diving into the social networks, Google. You bet, Google can pull up prize winning or scathing information on any individual with the click of a mouse. Have you checked your Google identity lately?

With all the buzz around social media sites like Facebook, Myspace and LinkedIn Corp., you should already know that there are some vulnerabilities laying in the mist around you. One common misconception with sites like LinkedIn is that most people assume since the site is for professional networking and that there is no booze binging night outs photographed that there is nothing to worry about. A revealing new trend is popping up and being admitted by recruiters and employers that just may make you think twice about that assumption. Employers and recruiters are now prescreening candidates by researching their profiles on LinkedIn to collect their contacts and friends. Your resume may have gleaming references of people who would never think twice about your abilities, personality and demeanor. Unfortunately, not everyone in your LinkedIn profile might agree with every shiny comment and can provide more detailed and offbeat information they know with a simple inbound email or phone call from the potential employer.

There is no question that this might be disturbing but it’s perfectly legal for any potential employer to delve into your contacts and see what others think about you. A detailed account of this new strategy by employers can be researched more over at a recent WSJ report which terms this reference digging as, “informal reference checking.” Considering the vast member databases available at sites like LinkedIn with 14,800,000 members an employer can find even a few references or mutual networks of people to contact. Dennis Smith of T-Mobile USA states social media sites have shook up the game and,”completely changed everything” adding that he specifically uses LinkedIn, Facebook and Jobster to prescreen candidates before the interviews even take place.

Cost cutting is one of the reasons that employers and recruiters are finding their way into the profiles of your MySpace, Facebook and LinkedIn profiles. It takes a lot of resources and time to have an actual interview with a potential employee and finding those “red flags” before the potential employee walks in the door is crucial to reducing needless expenses.

If you like to have fun on the weekends or have had your wild nights on the town in the past, you probably want to think twice about updating all your friends on Facebook or Myspace. The account of a terrible twist on a scheduled interview turned no-show, is covered in this NYT article. A gleaming candidate was about to land a job with an interview on campus at Duke University until the owner of the company who was doing the interview decided to take a brief look on Facebook. What was lurking on the profile of this candidate was graphic explanations of sex romps, drinking binges and pot indulgences that would even shock some college kids. If the words didn’t eliminate her chances, the pictures were rampant with unquestionable activities with one even displaying the potential candidate out cold from a night of hard drinking. Even though the owner was already at the University and was ready to do the interview she was quick to admit, “When I saw that, I thought, O.K., so much for that.” Even if your own Facebook profile doesn’t sport those night out pictures, the quick links to your friends profiles could easily tattle on your fun nights for you.

Even if you feel your Facebook and MySpace profiles are spic and span, you have to be cautious of what is lurking in the corners of Google searches for potential employers to find. A college senior hunting for jobs had to find out the hard way by dealing with long periods of few interviews. When a friend of Tien Nguyen’s suggested that he take a look on Google, he found his problem. A search for his name provided an essay he authored that was titled, “Lying Your Way to the Top.” After some convincing the website hosting the essay removed it and Mr. Nguyen started getting more interviews.

Even though MySpace was just founded in August of 2003 and purchased by News Corp. in July 2005 for $580 million, it is becoming a common tool for employers to use in background checking any employee by doing it quicker, cheaper and perfectly legal before they even walk in the door. With the addition of new sites and features every day, social media continues to grow and diversify which only makes the matter more complicated and controversial. You should always take care in what information you provide to the public about yourself. Once the cat is out of the bag there is no going back, with archival history becoming very sophisticated throughout the Internet.

Have you found that you haven’t been able to get a job because of social media background checking? Do you disagree with companies taking part in this type of investigation? Does your company regularly sift through potential employees online profiles? Does your company contact references from LinkedIn, Myspace, Facebook and others? If you feel strongly on either side of this issue we’d love to hear from you.