Is Facebook Keeping You From Getting a Job?

Does your business check social media sites to get information on potential employees? This can be both good and bad depending on how the information is used. Not exercising a thorough hiring process can cost business owners thousands of dollars when an applicant turns out to be a bad employee. There have also been cases in which the business was chastised for not checking social media sites. But how far does an employer go into an applicant’s personal life?

Nielson estimated that two-thirds of the world’s population uses some sort of social media. 50 percent of the US population uses Facebook. Once an individual enters the social media world, human nature takes over and they begin to open up. People want to talk and share. They want to brag and show off. Personal interaction sometimes inhibits these impulses, but the impersonal world of the internet allows one to shed those barriers. It becomes much easier to share personal and even intimate details.

As an employee or applicant, are you comfortable letting your employer view your Facebook page? What social media users sometimes forget is who is watching. If you are job searching, your openness on the web could affect your success. Depending on how strict privacy settings are, not only “friends” can see posts, but anyone can see those posts. If users think HR personnel are not checking social media sites they are being naïve. Microsoft funded a survey of recruiting professionals regarding online reputations of job applicants. Cross-tab Marketing Services found that 70 percent of human resource professionals had rejected job candidates because of what was found online. 79 percent said that they use online reputations as part of their hiring decision.

As a hiring manager you may want to know the new hire’s character traits, but you can’t let other things viewed affect your hiring decision. EEOC standards say that hiring cannot be based on race, age, or religion. While you may learn something that will eventually be brought out in an interview, you may also learn something that you would not have during the interview.  Personal revelations such as religious views, pregnancies, illnesses, or other protected data that may sway the decision to hire. If social media checks are to be used, it’s best to develop a list of positive and negative items. Have someone other than the person doing the hiring review the sites and report back on those items only. This will prevent the person doing the hiring and/or interview from seeing protected information.

Social media outlets can be useful in recruitment and hiring, but only when used properly. Always consult your business attorney or HR department when going outside your established interview process.

Greg Mazzella is the owner of Mazzella Investigative Solutions in Odenton.