New-Age CV: You are what you say online

In April, a sub-contractor for telecommunications giant Ericsson found herself out of a job after her racist Facebook rant against an "effing k***** taxi" went viral.

Last year, in the UK, 17-year-old youth crime commissioner Paris Brown was forced to step down from her high-profile job after several foul-mouthed tweets in which she used racial and homophobic slurs (all of which were posted before she was hired) were discovered.

In the US, a high school teacher was forced to resign on account of pictures posted on her Facebook page showing her posing with a glass of wine and a pint of beer. It was deemed to "promote alcohol use".

These are just some of the countless examples of people who have lost their jobs because of what has been deemed by their employer to be unacceptable uses of social media.

But what if these "offences" had been discovered before the individual had even been hired?

The truth is, they wouldn't have ever got the job on account of their "digital CV". First impressions are no longer made by a carefully crafted résumé, but by the results that pop up when a potential employer types a name into Google or scrolls through a Twitter profile.

The online conduct of an employee has the potential to harm their employer's reputation and may cause financial damage to the company. Many companies now consider social media audits an integral part of the recruitment process.

But the practice raises concerns.

From a privacy perspective, while employers can access publicly available information, they may not try to gain surreptitious access to private information (for example, by hacking an account or using a fake profile to access a social network).

In South Africa, the Protection of Personal Information Act 2013, once in place, will mean that job applicants must be made aware that personal information provided will be used to audit their online presence.

The practice increases the possibility of discriminatory hiring practices - personal details about people's lives are often apparent from their social media accounts, for example, pregnancy, religious and political views and sexual orientation.

Employers could inadvertently discriminate against potential employees on the basis of information gleaned from online profiles.

It is essential that prospective job applicants carry out active online reputation management.

The fact is potential employers will consider digital CVs. By carefully managing online profiles job-seekers can proactively construct the person that stares back at them when they do.

• De Beer is co-author of the working title 'Don't Film Yourself Having Sex' and a legal consultant