“Vodka and a zanex, a girls best friends.”

A student recently posted this as her status on her Facebook this past week, thinking only her friends would be able to see it. Frequently updated statuses may be commonly shared with close friends and acquaintances, but how about your mother or, even worse, a recruiter for your ideal internship or job?

Personal information students are posting on the web could be giving them a bad reputation and even blacklisting them from a dream job.

According to The New York Times, many companies that recruit on college campuses have long been using search engines like Google and Yahoo! to conduct background checks on college students looking for internships and entry level jobs.

But now, recruiters are taking it to the next level by looking up applicants on popular social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace, Xanga and Friendster. Students often post inappropriate photographs and inappropriate comments about drinking, drug use and sexual activity on what they assume is their private page.

“It’s an invasion of privacy, I understand that companies are looking to find more information on you as an individual and, by looking at your profile, your definitely able to obtain things that they would have never gotten through interviews or a normal background check, Tina Adeoba, a senior and hopeful employment seeker said.

What one does in one’s private life may be private, but once it’s posted to the web and becomes public, it is surrendered to the public for judgement. Companies in general care about their public image and do not want any liabilities. No matter what the protest may be, companies are going to continue collecting information on future employees, as well as their current employees, as protection on their investment.

If your personal profile isn’t following with a company’s value system then you might be out of luck for a job.

“I’ve always tried to keep both my Myspace and my Facebook clean in general,” said Mariel Aleman, a senior and current Ocean Drive Magazine intern.

Business Week recently reported that your online reputation is more important than your word-of-mouth reputation, with that said it’s time for students to start cleaning up their profiles and here are some guidelines for where to start:

• Change your privacy settings to filter who is able to see your profile. Options can include just your friends to an entire network such as your college.

• Remove any pictures where you are clearly intoxicated or under the influence of drugs, as well as any picture where anyone possesses a beer funnel or bong.

• Understand the site’s privacy policy and privacy settings. Consider the strength of assurances given about privacy and security on the sites you visit, and the conditions of acceptance. You might find that you are being asked to consent to wider commercial uses of your information.

• Remove any pictures of being Naked, half naked or almost naked. This also includes people surrounding you in the picture.

• Leave any groups that promote illegal activities, are politically incorrect or are in any way inappropriate or degrading.

• Get rid of all things previously mentioned in your special interest and quotes area.

• Don’t write any blogs or notes mentioning any of the above activities.

• Don’t assume that anything you post online is completely private or limited to certain groups, or that the passwords you set up cannot be accessed through inadequate software protection. Even basic information, such as an address, birthday, photo or mobile number can be coupled with other public information, enabling someone to steal your identity.

• Lastly, use common sense and start using the internet for your own benefit and gain. You’re more likely to be rewarded than denied during your next interview.

“I strongly feel that who I am in my personal life, is very different than who I am in a business setting.”It almost feels like these employers are stalking, whatever happened to just calling your references?” Adeoba said.