Social networking sites like Facebook or Linkedin are becoming increasingly popular and are unavoidable in day to day life. A recent GRB poll of 500 students said that 73% felt it was an invasion of privacy for an employer to "snoop" on their profile so what's a recruiter to do?
Making the best recruitment decision comes down to having as much information on a potential candidate in order to judge their suitability. Typically we resort to CVs, Interviews, Assessment Centres and the like but now employers are including social networking sites as another slice of information on which to base their decision.
There are no rules restricting the use of these sites however employers run the risk of attracting claims for discrimination. For instance if an employer announced she was pregnant and as a result you retract an employment offer you could liable if there is any documentation pertaining to show that this announcement led to the retraction.
I think most employers understand students make the most of university life and now have a way to express this openly online. To other generations this seems way too revealing and question why they would want to let the world see some of the things that get posted but unless something is seriously anti-social, illegal or defamatory users of social networking sites should have nothing to fear. For selectors, by all means take a look once the decision has been made to hire someone but where it can really help is especially if you have a few people starting as you can contact them all through Facebook and get them talking to each other before they start. See it as a pre-induction strategy to spend time communicating with employees before they start which will help them settle in better to your firm and everyone benefits.
Making the best recruitment decision comes down to having as much information on a potential candidate in order to judge their suitability. Typically we resort to CVs, Interviews, Assessment Centres and the like but now employers are including social networking sites as another slice of information on which to base their decision.
There are no rules restricting the use of these sites however employers run the risk of attracting claims for discrimination. For instance if an employer announced she was pregnant and as a result you retract an employment offer you could liable if there is any documentation pertaining to show that this announcement led to the retraction.
I think most employers understand students make the most of university life and now have a way to express this openly online. To other generations this seems way too revealing and question why they would want to let the world see some of the things that get posted but unless something is seriously anti-social, illegal or defamatory users of social networking sites should have nothing to fear. For selectors, by all means take a look once the decision has been made to hire someone but where it can really help is especially if you have a few people starting as you can contact them all through Facebook and get them talking to each other before they start. See it as a pre-induction strategy to spend time communicating with employees before they start which will help them settle in better to your firm and everyone benefits.
2 comments:
Interesting article that graduates feel employers “snoop”, but it‘s a reality of life for all levels of job seekers. Your personal brand is very important and it’s not just about your CV! I know clients that have turned down individuals based on an inappropriate photo! It’s a competitive market and you need to be standing out in the right way. Alice Weightman Director at www.hansonsearch.com
Thought provoking piece. I wrote an article on this subject just today. What I find especially interesting is where we draw the line as a society - how much information is "too much"? I have in the past had customers who have "facebooked" me and then commented about my profile picture during meetings with them. Nothing untoward, my profile picture is nothing unusual but the fact they thought about checking me out told me that there is a social shift occurring and there is not much you can do but be prepared and adapt. It is a tough job market at the best of times without your on-line persona making life more difficult. Carl
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