You might think you're prepared for that all-important job interview. You've researched the company, labored over the best "hire me" outfit and perfected your argument as to why the manager absolutely must employ you.

But there's one more move that if forsaken could hurt your chances of nabbing that position.

You never Googled yourself.

"You want to see how easy it is for an employer to find out more about you," said Mary Flaherty, Roberts Wesleyan College's career services director.

"References will say glowing things about you," she added. "But Google is a free way for employers to do even more background checking on someone."

"We've heard that private companies are recruiting college students and paying them money to go on MySpace.com and search for information about individual applicants for jobs," warned Arnie Boldt, a managing partner at the Penfield, N.Y., career-consulting firm Arnold-Smith Associates.

"If they come up with anything derogatory or unflattering, the company might use that information to make decisions about whether to hire people," he added.

"They need to stop thinking like a college student and more like a young professional," said Michael Kahl, Nazareth College's career services director.

And we're not just talking about banishing from your Web site the spring break photos of you chugging beer. You want to do an "informational audit of your technology-based personality," said Jerry Wrubel, career services director at State University College in Geneseo, N.Y.

So look at what shows up about you on others' Web sites. Hopefully polite requests to remove questionable material will suffice. Watch your negative comments on blogs — recruiters might see such thoughts as a reflection of your personality.

Don't forget your voice-mail message and e-mail address, which should be something innocuous — not ilovetheyankees, Wrubel said.

And if you can't do anything about unflattering online material, at least be prepared to deal with such an inquiry during the interview, added Flaherty.

Say whatever you did was part of the college climate and that you're ready to be a professional. Maybe back it up by saying that despite your partying, you still made it into your internship at 8 a.m.

But it's not just students who need to watch their Internet activity. The danger is there whether you're a newbie or old-timer in the workforce.

Three out of four executive recruiters, for example, said in a national survey that they use search engines to learn more about candidates. Another third of recruiters have eliminated a candidate based on what they've uncovered online, said the survey by ExecuNet, a national career/networking organization.

"If you Google yourself and find negative information, you can only combat it by going and putting something positive out there," Boldt added.

"If they Google you, (then) they'll find your online portfolio with the positive information before the negative stuff. It's a strategy that might work."