As a college student, it can be a lot of fun to wear Sexy Halloween costumes to parties and other events. However, one night of partying in provocative Halloween attire can end up being more costly than you may realize when it comes time to search for a job. Does that mean that you must only select un-sexy costumes for Halloween? Not necessarily. But before donning a sexy Halloween costume, it is important to consider the potential consequences.

More and more employers are conducting Internet searches of their job candidates before they make hiring decisions. Provocative images and references to drinking will cause many employers to pass on a candidate. There are two main reasons that employers are less likely to hire a job candidate with an inappropriate online image: First, employees' images project onto the company's image. Employers may be reluctant to hire an otherwise qualified person if they are worried the candidates' image will taint the company's image. Second, employers often view inappropriate Internet images of job candidates as red flags warning them that the candidate might be immature, lack good judgment, or have larger problems, such as alcoholism.

One of the issues with wearing provocative clothing in public is that anyone with a camera can take a picture of you and do whatever they want with it. All it takes is for one person with a camera phone to take a picture of you in your sexy costume for it to end up on the Internet. Once an image is in Cyberspace, it is tough to control what happens to it. Anyone can link to it, save it, download it, forward it, or repost it.

Some people may think, "It's Halloween, won't employers give me a pass?" Maybe. Maybe not. One of the factors that may determine how detrimental an employer is likely to view the photograph is how revealing of an outfit you are wearing. The more revealing the costume, the worse it is likely to be viewed.

Another factor in how the image will be perceived is what you are doing in the photograph. Are you posing provocatively? Are you drinking? Do you appear to be intoxicated? Alcohol can make the impression of your image worse. Even if you are not drinking in the photograph, alcohol in the background will lead many people to make assumptions that reflect poorly on you.

If you decide to wear a sexy Halloween costume to a party, take precautions. Do not pose provocatively or with alcohol for any pictures. It is best not to allow anyone to take your picture. If you really want to have photographs of the evening, use your own camera. Do not post any potentially damaging photographs on the Internet; it is too easy for someone to get a hold of them and use them for their own purposes. If you feel you really must post something employers may consider inappropriate, use your privacy settings and allow only a trusted few to view them. Let your friends know you do not want these images reposted or forwarded without your permission. It is best not to become intoxicated or you may find that you are less vigilant about keeping others from photographing you.