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Do you discount applicants who have loads of friends, sexy travel photos, and long list of interests on Facebook pages? 

You'll be surprised that these candidates are typically quite successful in business. 

At least that’s what a new study from Northern Illinois University, the University of Evansville, and Auburn University suggests. The study found that Facebook profiles more accurately predict a person’s job performance than do personality surveys.

Researchers asked one professor and two students to rate the profiles of 56 college students. The ratings were later compared to employee evaluations of the students who were employed six months later.

From The Wall Street Journal:

“Raters generally gave favorable evaluations to students who traveled, had more friends and showed a wide range of hobbies and interests. Partying photos didn't necessarily count against a student; on the contrary, raters perceived the student as extroverted and friendly, says Don Kluemper, the lead researcher and a professor of management at Northern Illinois University.”

Kluemper told NIU Today:

“In five or 10 minutes, our raters could look at the tone of a subject’s wall post, note the number of friends they have, peruse their photos to see how social they were and assess their tastes in books and music. It’s a very rich source of information.”

Employers should be careful with this rich source of information. WSJ warned that screening job candidates’ social media profiles is a “murky” legal issue.

A similar study found that Facebook scores more accurately predicted grade point average than personality and IQ tests combined, explained NIU Today.

What do you think?