Recruiters are being increasingly influenced by information they find about candidates on the internet, networking firm Viadeo has found.

One in five employers said that they used the internet to research possible candidates, and around two thirds said that what they found had influenced their recruitment decisions.

A quarter of employers claimed to have rejected candidates based on information they had found online on social networking sites like Myspace. "We found that the candidate was personally into some activities which did not fit ethically into my company," said one employer.

Viadeo said that the results were a wake-up call to anyone who has ever posted personal information online, warning that search engines like Google make it easier to find. "Google means that potential employers are never more than a few clicks away from information about you," said Viadeo manager Peter Cunningham.

However, around 15% of employers said that information they had found online has influenced a positive decision in terms of recruitment after HR staff uncovered information that they might not otherwise have known about.

"People must manage their ‘net reps’ closely, online information must be tailored to work to their advantage," added Cunningham.