Vault.com, the popular career information portal, has recently released the results of its 2010 Social Media Survey which indicates that while social media activity may not be looked upon as a make or break factor by most employers, for almost 75% of them who do view candidates' social media profiles, Linkedin remains the most consulted.

More than a third of recruiters view candidates' profiles on social media and among head hunters on Linkedin, 74% view it as an important tool for sourcing candidates.

An overwhelming majority of employers also feel that candidates should take at least one concrete step to make their profiles more attractive for employers; these include one or more measures such as segregating and filtering personal photographs, omitting political and religious views from profiles, deleting objectionable wall posts or even making the wall entirely private.

The fact that Linkedin profiles mostly exhibit these features anyway makes it more professional and is perhaps one reason that recruiters find it relatively more useful than a Facebook or Twitter.

However, personal recommendations on Linkedin may not be a very influential factor, as the research reveals that only 14% of employers use the site profile to assess a candidate's social reputation. 49% say that it is consulted to research candidates' professional background while another 21% view it to research candidates' personal networks.

Approximately 150 companies and 3500 job-seekers in a variety of industries took the above survey.

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