By Amanda Balionis

College students around the country are drinking underage, taking racy pictures, and lying and doing it all right in front of their future employers. On purpose? No. Damaging? Most definitely.

With the creation of Facebook.com and MySpace.com comes easy access to networking with other students. But, it also gives employers a window to see into the real lives of the people behind the resume.

According to CareerBuilder.com, one of the largest job searching Web sites in the nation, one in every four hiring managers have used the Internet to access networking sites to determine the true character of a person. If an employer decides to not hire the person being researched, almost 70 percent of that reason is based on photos found that linked the person to illegal or distasteful actions.

Students believe that by setting their online profiles to more private settings that they are safe from these employer invasions. This is a myth. According to The New York Times, employers have confessed to using their alumni school e-mails to access profiles, and they also have their college interns look up students’ profiles in order to gain more access.

Zach Melamed, a Drexel University 2006 graduate, had a lot of responsibilities when he received his first job at a major marketing firm in Center City Philadelphia.

“I had to try to access as many people’s Facebook profiles as possible to look at their pictures and other details. I only could get into a few, but they had other people trying to access it too,” Melamed said.

It was pretty difficult for a Penn State graduate student (we’ll call him Mike) to believe that any employer would take the time to look at his online profile. After being asked back for a follow-up interview, Mike’s confidence was flying high when he walked into the regional accounting firm. That confidence plummeted almost immediately when he noticed what was on his employers computer screen.

“My pictures on Facebook were up. They asked me if my nights depicted on Facebook were behind me and if I were going to be serious.”

Mike ended up receiving the job from the firm in Baltimore, but it was more than enough reason for him to warn his undergraduate friends and take down his own profile.

Employers believe that these online profiles help to add another dimension to their prospective employees. “They come in all buttoned up, their clothing is meticulous, they spend years building this resume, and this person that’s sitting there is almost entirely different than the person posting on these websites,” said Tim Demello, the owner for the Internet company Ziggs to CBS News. “I think some of these sites out there are going to be the most expensive free web sites to [damage] their careers.”

While employers may find this profile niche to be revealing of a persons’ true character, some students see it as an invasion of their personal life and privacy.

Junior broadcast journalism student Bryan Savage at first said he would be comfortable with an employer looking at his Facebook, but after a few moments changed his mind.

“I wouldn’t mind if they looked at my pictures and stuff but some of the quotes I have on my profile wouldn’t be something I would want an employer to look at if they didn’t know me.”

There are 7.5 million college students registered on Facebook. While this is a giant opportunity for students to throw away all of their hard work with a few shocking pictures, they can also turn this new phenomenon into a more expansive and positive opportunity.

Sophomore athlete and education major, Ashley Legeretta, knows that lawfully, looking at profiles isn’t an invasion of privacy but it’s necessarily fair either.

“I think it’s a little rude and unprofessional,” Legeretta said. “My personal life shouldn’t affect if I get a job or not. Half-drunk pictures of me shouldn’t help a future employer judge if I deserve the job or not.”

University junior, Gina Appa, agreed.

“I think it’s absolutely an invasion of privacy,” said Appa. “They are prejudging you and I am a different person at work than I am at the bar so I don’t think they should base my future job on a sloppy night at Dizzy’s.”

These profiles, though possibly damaging, can also be utilized to highlight positive characteristics for employers to consider. The Princeton Review recommends offering “a little less personal information…save your photos for vacations photographs.” Other experts suggest using the space you have on the profiles to show off your writing skills or other achievements that would make you attractive to employers.

Steven Rothberg, a college recruiter, says that eliminating your profile completely isn’t always necessary. Instead, look at the content and delete only those photographs or comments that you would feel uncomfortable sharing with your grandmother.

“Posting information on-line is like getting a tattoo. There’s nothing inherently wrong with posting information online or getting a tattoo, but in both cases you need to be prepared for it to be out there forever.”

So, next time someone catches you on camera dancing on the bar at Dizzy Lizard, or kissing your newly found crush of the night after Happy Hour; just remember that college memories certainly do last forever, and they may impact your life for just as long.