The social media means different things to different people, but for most firms, it means one of the standards for measurement when it comes to recruitment.
Research by CareerBuilder revealed that up to 70% of employers now screen the social media profiles of prospective employees before making hiring decisions.
Aside from the social media, search engines like Yahoo, Google and Bing are also some of the tools used to check the online presence of prospective employees.
Some hiring managers say they look out for “red flags” in potential employee’s social profiles. Some of these red flags include:
- Posting inappropriate, sensitive or out rite nude pictures
- Posting too frequently and during working hours.
- Posting gender biased, racist or religiously-intolerant posts
- Posts indicating criminal behavior or indicating poor communication and social skills
- Posts relating to confidential, false or harmful information about previous employers or work colleagues.
Interestingly, with the use of social media some firms have secured the services of their prospective employees.
A Social Recruiting Survey research by Jobvite found that 55% of employers reconsidered a candidate for possible recruitment after reviewing their social media profiles.
They want to be sure that your persona as reflected in social media is one that aligns with the company values, culture, and ethics.
This means that, if you have a good social media presence, communicate positively and more efficiently on social media, chances are employers might more likely consider hiring you.
Further, the research revealed that 94% of companies are more liable to use LinkedIn to search for prospective employees, while 66% and 54% were more likely to use Facebook and Twitter respectively.
Another aspect of which of the hiring process involves the pre-interview vetting and post-interview, and many recruiters are using the social media to achieve that.
The statistics show that 93% used LinkedIn to vet candidates pre-interview, and also keep tabs on prospective candidates, 32% used Facebook to vet candidates during the pre- as and post-interview, while only 18% used Twitter to vet candidates post-interview.
In all, it is not wrong or socially intrusive, rather a way most recruiters use to filter to get the right candidates. And most say they are satisfied 44% of the time with the hires that they get after these procedures.
It is important therefore for prospective employees and job `seekers to streamline and moderate their social media posts.
Keeping things professional and civil would be a sound advice.
