Should Companies Review Your Social Media During the Hiring Process

If you lot use social media to screen applicants, you're not lonely. The Harris Poll conducted a national survey of hiring managers and HR professionals on behalf of CareerBuilder during the spring of 2018. The study revealed that 70 percent of employers at present use social media sites to research applicants during the recruiting process .

Maybe you're wondering why that number isn't college? After all, we alive in an increasingly connected world where more and more people have social media accounts. Why not accept advantage of that free peek into the personalities and characteristics of would-exist employees?

Social media screening has rewards, simply information technology also carries risks. In this post, we'll break down the pros and cons of using social media screening when hiring. Let'due south get started!

The Benefits of Using Social Media to Screen Applicants

The information is free and like shooting fish in a barrel to access on public profiles. One obvious benefit to reviewing job applicants' social media presence is that the person's details are oftentimes public and freely available for anyone to review. A quick search on a social network can quickly reveal a lot about a job seeker.

A social presence tin give you lot a glimpse into what other people say about the applicant. Sites like LinkedIn give people the opportunity to recommend others. Testimonials on a person's contour tin give yous insights about what a candidate may bring to the job.

A review of social media tin can assistance you weed out the bad apples. Unfortunately, some people accept social profiles that are celebrations of poor judgment, bad decisions, criminal action, and other more often than not bad behavior. Fortunately for you, you can run across these behaviors and weed out applicants earlier y'all ever invite them in for an interview.

The Risks of Using Social Media to Screen Applicants

Your decision-making could exist unconsciously biased by what you see. Let's say a candidate you screen via social media has a pretty make clean profile. He loves sports, has a dog. Oh, he also mentions that he's a member of a sure religion and is proud of his heritage.

Or what nearly the woman who just practical? Maybe yous see her terrific contour plus the fact that she's simply announced that she'south meaning. You know you can't discriminate based on pregnancy, only you lot may still have had a niggling nagging thought of, "oh, she volition go along maternity leave within the year if I hire her." Unconscious bias can bear upon anybody from time to time.

If you wouldn't (and you lot shouldn't) ask questions during an interview that would crave disclosure of the information mentioned above, and so you demand to advisedly weigh the risk versus the advantage when it comes to reviewing social media profiles, especially the personal ones similar Facebook and Instagram.

Social media screenings could leave you lot open to allegations of bigotry. If you program to use social media screenings equally function of your procedure, yous may find a candidate accusing you of bigotry nether Title VII of the Ceremonious Rights Deed . A person could claim y'all saw his or her ethnicity, religious affiliation, or other protected data and used that data in your decision making.

Even if you don't utilise social media screenings, it'south not inconceivable to call back people could brand these same accusations only based on the assumption that you might take viewed their public profiles.

A thorough screening policy coupled with documentation most each candidate's qualifications and your decision-making procedure could be useful if you always face a lawsuit.

How Should Y'all Proceed?

If you lot plan on using social media to help yous vet candidates for open positions, you should keep these tips from Les Rosen of Employment Screening Resources in mind.

Perform a social media check with the bidder'south consent only after you lot've made a job offer. The offering is contingent upon the completion of the check.
Develop a standard screen process that demonstrates how hiring decisions are based objectively on job clarification criteria.
Consider using a third political party to perform the social media check with the third party providing simply job-related information to assistance y'all brand a hiring conclusion.

Even so, a ameliorate alternative to social media screening is to use an applicant tracking system (ATS) that keeps you focused on the objective, chore-related data when screening applicants. An ATS gives you lot the tools to look beyond simple resumes, applications and pre-screening questions in evaluating job candidates, with options similar custom-prescreening and laissez passer-fail questions to screen out under-qualified candidates.

Click below to read our guide to selecting the best ATS for your business organisation.

Learn More

Employment and Social Media in Recruitment and Selection: Screening Chore Applicants

In terms of social media and job applicants, if you apply social media sites to screen applicants, then you're not alone. According to a survey conducted last year by The Manifest , a business news and how-to website, 90% of employers find social media important when they evaluate candidates. In improver, 79% of HR professionals have denied a job to a candidate due to inappropriate content on social media.

In other words, that'southward nine out of every 10 employers who find social media important when evaluating candidates. Considering the proliferation of social media in our lives, that number is not also surprising. In fact, information technology probably wouldn't be surprising if the number was x out of 10. And who knows? One day in the near future, that will most likely be the case.

Afterward all, we live in an increasingly connected globe where more and more people have social media accounts. Why not take advantage of that free peek into the personalities and characteristics of would-be employees? Well, since we went to all the trouble of posing this question, the least nosotros can practice is attempt to respond it.

Using social media to screen job seekers and applicants has rewards, but it besides carries its fair share of risks. In this weblog mail service, we'll interruption down the pros and cons of social media and job applicants in the recruiting process . Permit's go started!

Social media and employment: the benefits of screening applicants

So when it comes to social media and job applicants ix out of 10 employers would not use social media to evaluate applicants unless they believed at that place is some sort of benefit derived from doing so. So before nosotros discuss the risks involved in using social media for this purpose, let'southward take a look at some of the benefits, including the following iii:

#i—The information is free and piece of cake to admission on public profiles.

One obvious benefit to reviewing task applicants' social media presence is that the person's details are oft public and freely available for anyone to review. A quick search on a social network can quickly reveal a lot almost a chore seeker.

#2—A social presence tin give you a glimpse into what other people say.

What they say virtually the applicant, that is. Social media sites like LinkedIn requite people the opportunity to recommend others. Testimonials on a person's contour can give you insights nearly what a candidate may bring to the job and what kind of value they can offer.

#iii—A review of social media tin help you eliminate "bad apples."

Unfortunately, some people take social profiles that are celebrations of poor judgment, bad decisions, criminal activity, and other generally bad behavior. Fortunately for you, you can see these behaviors and eliminate applicants before you ever invite them in for an interview. According to the same Manifest survey mentioned above, 79% of HR professionals have denied a job candidate due to inappropriate content that they found on the candidate's social media accounts.

The risks of using social media in recruitment and selection

However, there is a "flip side to the coin" in terms of using social media in recruitment and selection. Your first question might be, "Is it even legal to check out applicants' social media profiles?"

The brusque answer is "Yes . . . as long as the hiring manager or Hour professional is viewing public information." (And you'd exist surprised by how many task applicants have their social media profiles prepare to "public" without fifty-fifty realizing that's the case.) Another respond to that question might exist, "Yes . . . for now." Since the protection of consumer data and privacy is such a hot topic these days, in that location's no telling what the future holds in terms of social media and employment. Of course, this possibility opens up a set of other questions. For example, if a law is passed prohibiting hiring managers to utilize social media to screen chore applicants, and then how will that law be enforced? And if information technology'southward successfully enforced, what will the penalties be?

But regardless of whether it'southward legal (or even upstanding) to use social media in the hiring procedure to screen job seekers and applicants, there are still very existent risks involved with doing so. Below are two of the biggest risks:

#1—Your decision making could exist unconsciously biased by what you run across.

Permit's say a candidate yous screen via social media has a pretty clean contour. He loves sports, has a dog. Oh, he as well mentions that he's a member of a sure faith and is proud of his heritage.

Or what about the adult female who just applied? Perhaps you see her terrific contour plus the fact that she'south simply announced that she's pregnant. You know you tin can't discriminate based on pregnancy, simply you may still accept had a little nagging thought of, "oh, she will keep motherhood exit inside the year if I rent her." Unconscious bias can bear upon everyone from time to fourth dimension.

If you lot wouldn't (and you shouldn't) ask questions during an interview that would require disclosure of the data mentioned above, then you demand to carefully weigh the take chances versus the reward when it comes to reviewing social media profiles, especially the personal ones like Facebook and Instagram.

#2—Social media screenings could go out you open up to allegations of discrimination.

If you plan to use social media screenings as part of your process, you may notice a candidate accusing you of bigotry under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act . A person could claim you saw his or her ethnicity, religious affiliation, or other protected data and used that data in your decision making.

Even if y'all don't utilise social media screenings, it's not inconceivable to think people could make these same accusations just based on the supposition that y'all might have viewed their public profiles. A thorough screening policy coupled with documentation about each candidate's qualifications and your decision-making process could be useful if you always face a lawsuit.

Social media and chore applicants: how should yous proceed?

Now that we've addressed the benefits and analyzed the risks involved with social media and employment, we still have one more than question to answer: "How should you lot go along?" Every bit is ofttimes the example in situations such every bit these, "With circumspection" seems to be the correct answer. Notwithstanding, y'all're sure to be seeking a more specific answer to that questions.

So if yous plan to utilise social media in recruitment and selection, then go on in mind these three helpful tips from Les Rosen of Employment Screening Resources:

Perform a social media cheque with the applicant's consent simply subsequently yous've made a job offer. The offer is contingent upon the completion of the check.
Develop a standard screen process that demonstrates how hiring decisions are based objectively on job description criteria.
Consider using a 3rd party to perform the social media bank check with the 3rd party providing only job-related data to help you make a hiring conclusion.

When information technology comes to social media and employment, "amend safe than sorry" should be the mantra. Exercise not underestimate the power of unconscious bias. Regardless of your best intentions, it has the potential to negatively affect your decision making, and by extension, the results of the hiring procedure.

Social media, the hiring procedure, and your ATS

A better alternative to using social media in recruitment and choice is to employ an intuitive and powerful applicant tracking system (ATS). The best ATS software for recruiting and hiring can go along you focused on what's nearly important in terms of screening applicants: simple, task-related data.

The right applicant tracking software tin await beyond simple resumes to detect the information yous need to brand the best hire possible. It does this through, amidst other things, custom prescreening and laissez passer-fail questions designed to screen out under-qualified job candidates.

The Applicant Director (TAM) is just such an ATS! TAM offers a full suite of applicant tracking and evaluation features that can help you source, recruit, and hire the best task candidates for your company'due south open positions. These features include a simple all-in-one candidate profile, custom interview guides for job-related assessments, easy bidder disposition (thumbs upwardly or thumbs down), and multiple options for sharing resumes and soliciting feedback.

Click below to read our guide to selecting the best ATS for your business!

Learn More

( Editor'south note: the data provided in this blog post should Non be construed as legal advice. If yous have specific questions near this topic, consult your legal counsel.)

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Source: https://www.tamrecruiting.com/should-employers-use-social-media-to-screen-job-applicants/