A new research study indicates that employers can learn all they need to know about how well you will perform on the job just from checking out your Facebook profile.

The study carried out by the Northern Illinois University, the University of Evansville and Auburn University had HR professionals and students rate 56 Facebook users based on personality traits likely to be associated with job success (such as openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, and friendliness).

Six months later, the researchers compared the actual on-the-job evaluations that the same 56 users’ received from their employers. There was a strong correlation between success at work and the high Facebook ranking.

We recently noted that 91% of employers say they screen potential candidates on social networking sites before hiring them. This new evidence of how effectively it can be used to predict your future performance will likely mean that this trend isn't going away any time soon.

"Personality profile questionnaires are subject to people providing what they think is the socially acceptable answer. It's harder to do that on Facebook – your friends will call you out," said study author Don Kluemper in explaining the authenticity of the information seen on Facebook.

So is it time to clean up all of those party pictures from your profile? Not necessarily. The researchers found that people who appeared to be more sociable, outgoing and had more friends tended to rank higher. Being well travelled and having a broad range of interests also scored candidate profiles higher ratings.

Peter Harris