Caustic American Idol judge Simon Cowell's biting comments have stripped many a contestant of their dignity. One finalist may be immune to such embarrassment.

David Hernandez, a 24-year old singer on Fox's hit show (NWS), is all about stripping: He's worked as a nude dancer. Photos of a barely clothed Hernandez first surfaced at VotefortheWorst.com. Soon after Gordy Bryan, the manager of Dick's Cabaret in Phoenix, Ariz, told the Associated Press that Hernandez performed fully nude for the club's mostly male clientele for three years. "He had the look, so he made pretty good money here," Bryan said. Of course in Hollywood talent can trump a tawdry past (as stripper-turned-screenwriter Diablo Cody learned Oscar night). Idol producers say Hernandez will continue to compete until America votes him out.

You may not (necessarily) be a former stripper looking for new work, but most job seekers have a presence online that could potentially get them in an embarrassing situation, or worse. As easily as someone can find a long lost friend on social hubs like Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter an employer can check up on a potential new hire. According to Kellianne Murphy, a career advisor at Northeastern University, just as employers fact check resumes, they also check online networks. Some human resource departments login to sites and check out candidates directly. Other companies approach younger staff and interns to explore the sites, with their personal accounts, to seek out the posts of fellow networkers.

Murphy says that one of her advisees was denied a job offer because of her Facebook page. The female student interviewed with a direct marketing company in New York and was being seriously considered for the position. Then the hiring staff checked her online profile and read negative comments about the company and her interview. She did not get an offer. That is why career experts recommend that people be aware of how they appear on the internet. “If you’re applying to work at Hustler, you can get away with provocative pictures of yourself online, but if you’re applying to Goldman Sachs, not so much,” says Marci Alboher, author of One Person/Multiple Careers. “Your online footprints will leave tracks for a long time so you should be careful what is in them.”

This is not to say you should avoid online social networking. John Hotard, a career coach in New York, says some posts can work to your advantage. An intelligent blog can show employers a different, and positive, side of a job candidate. These more professional personas can also help offset something scandalous that may already be in cyberspace. “If an interviewer mention pictures they saw of you in a skimpy bathing suit on YouTube (GOOG), you can say, ‘I see that you have used YouTube as an informal reference, but I would love to give you my real references and a link to my blog.’”

Of course the easiest way to protect against a potential job seeking scandal may be to keep private things private, says Murphy. “The wise course of action is to make sure that your online presence reflects you in the most responsible light.” And that is probably not a strip club stage spotlight (unless you are an American Idol…or an Oscar winning screenwriter).