To reach prospective employees, companies are using social media websites like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and various career-orientated sites like Monster, Indeed and Career Builder. It makes sense that these same companies would also use these websites to review candidates, as well. But this practice has come under great scrutiny in the past year and raised questions of applicants’ online privacy.

It is important that job seekers monitor postings made by themselves and others on their personal social media pages, Twitter accounts or even personal blog pages, removing any photos, comments or shared opinions that could negatively affect the perception of the applicant by the hiring company. Human resource departments, staffing agencies and even school administrators have overriding privileges that allow them to bypass privacy settings for the purpose of ensuring employees emulate the morals, values or behaviors that complement the company’s brand, messaging and image. This means that job seekers need to thoroughly monitor their social media sites, rather than simply turning the settings to “private.”

The scrutiny isn’t just for job seekers. Companies using social media sites also have to be careful about the potential for discriminating against potential employee candidates.