Forties People

Web users aged 40-plus who are applying for office jobs in London have been advised that recruiters could be checking their Facebook profiles.

According to a study by Microsoft, a growing number of employers are carrying out research on job applicants by looking at their pages on social networking sites.

The organisation has therefore encouraged jobseekers to make sure they create a positive image on their Facebook and Twitter pages.

"It's essential that web users cultivate the kind of online reputation that they would want an employer to see," said Microsoft spokesman Peter Cullen.

Indeed, the research showed that about three-quarters of businesses have rejected a candidate on the strength of what they have discovered online.

Mr Cullen said this demonstrates why a person's online reputation should be "proactively managed".

This comes shortly after Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg revealed that the site now has more than 350 million users across the world.