What employers can tell from the look on your Facebook

admissions officials and employers using the popular networking Web site to vet candidates, according to Dan Ryan, director of Career Services at UB.

Ryan gave a presentation on the trend Wednesday in Capen Hall.

Starting from its inception in late 2000, Facebook has gone from a small friend database of college students to a member list rivaling that of Internet giant MySpace.

The percentage of college students using the Web site has risen from five to ten percent in the early 2000s to 85 percent in 2006, according to Ryan.

"The pace at which The Facebook has exploded is incredible," Ryan said. "Within the next year and a half you will see nearly every college student in the country using it."

With many safety features available to members, Facebook would appear to be a harmless Web site. However, many students and employees are learning that their Facebook profiles may be an incriminating tool used against them.

"Facebook has the ability to ruin even the best of r?(c)sum?(c)s," Ryan said. "Any student with goals of pursuing graduate, medical or law school should seriously reconsider any information on their profile that may be deemed inappropriate, because it will be viewed by admissions offices."

Potential graduate school candidates are not alone as some employers are using the Web site to gauge a prospective or current employee's true character.

"Many people who considered themselves well off in a high end job have been fired due to information seen on their profiles that their company considered unsuitable for one of their employees," Ryan said. "It is sad to see young people losing opportunities of a lifetime because of something so supposedly harmless as The Facebook."