UK interviewers are the least likely to check social networking sites, new research from talent management consultancy DDI shows.

The research shows only 12% of interviewers claimed to do so. Their German counterparts are almost twice as likely as any other country to conduct online searches, while 46% say they use this technique to make hiring decisions.

A quarter of interviewers worldwide are using social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace to verify information about job candidates and of those interviewers who do conduct online searches, over half (52%) say they have used the information to influence hiring decisions.

Less than a third of candidates (32%) think what they put on social networking sites may affect their chances of winning a job – and in the UK under a quarter think this.

Steve Newhall, vice president for Europe at DDI, says: “It appears that jobseekers are quite naïve about how personal information on social networking sites is used. While job candidates should consider the sort of information they post online, interviewers should also realise that much of what is put there is for fun, and is unlikely to reflect a candidate’s on-the-job demeanor or performance.”