As the social media age becomes more and more prevalent, it only makes sense that additional eyes are being cast on one’s online engagements.
According to a recent CareerBuilder survey of some 2,000 hiring managers and HR pros, 37 percent of human resource managers note utilizing social networking sites in order to gain more information on job candidates, while another 11 percent indicate they will start doing likewise. In another interesting stat, 15 percent of those responding indicated their companies banned using social media in order to review candidates.
Research has shown that employers are mostly using Facebook (65 percent) and LinkedIn (63 percent) to review information on candidates; 16 percent use Twitter.
For many companies looking to hire, they point to the fact that using social media to look over a candidate’s background provides them with a better idea of the individual’s personality, qualifications and the professional image they have put forth to date.
In breaking down the numbers some more, hiring managers doing online background checks reported:
- Sixty-five percent said they use social media to investigate whether the candidate present themselves professionally;
- Fifty-one percent said they use social media to see if the candidate looks to be a good fit for the company;
- Forty-five percent said social media is helpful in learning additional information regarding the individual’s qualifications;
- Thirty-five percent utilize social media in seeing if the individual proves to be well-rounded;
- Lastly, 12 percent are utilizing social media in searching for reasons not to bring the candidate aboard.
As the survey notes, approximately one-third of hiring managers utilizing social networking venues to screen job applicants stated they did not hire an individual due to finding something online that questioned their candidacy. In the majority of cases, the concerns were tied to inappropriate or provocative images or details, or something regarding the applicant using alcohol or drugs.
On the flip side of looking at potential red flags that social media usage by an individual can cause employers, there are also a handful of reasons for people to be on social media.
In looking at the survey results from hiring managers, three in 10 (29 percent) indicated they discovered an item in someone’s social media ventures that led them to hire an individual.
The content discovered showed hiring managers the following:
- Fifty-eight percent noted they had a good feel for the applicant’s personality;
- Fifty-five percent said the content demonstrated a professional image;
- Fifty-four percent stated background information backed up professional qualifications;
- Fifty-one percent said the content showed a well-rounded individual with a wide range of interests;
- Forty-nine percent stated content demonstrated great communication skills;
- Forty-four percent said the candidate’s content showed they were creative;
- Thirty-four percent indicated they came across posts from others that proved to be strong references for the candidate.
According to a spokesperson for Career Builder, “Because social media is a dominant form of communication today, you can certainly learn a lot about a person by viewing their public, online personas. However, hiring managers and human resources departments have to make a careful, determined decision as to whether information found online is relevant to the candidates’ qualifications for the job.”
So whether you are an employer or an individual looking for work, there is a good chance that your paths will cross at some point on this ever-growing medium we call social media.
Photo credit: news.investors.com
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