There has been much debate as to whether companies should use social media to screen candidates. In most cases, we recommend yes, use social media, but be aware of the risks you are taking and be careful when doing so. Read on to learn more about the accuracy of social media, how to effectively use social media in the hiring process without putting your business at risk, and what to look for on candidates’ profiles.
Is social media accurate?
Chirag Nangia, founder and CEO of Reppify (read more about his company below) says that information gathered on candidates’ social media profiles is indeed accurate and trustworthy, particularly the self-identified and endorsed skills on LinkedIn. “People can game it, but if you see the overall trend, people can be pretty closely related to the top three or four skills that they have attached to their profile,” says Nangia. This is especially helpful to employers since soft skills are often the ones people list, and they can be otherwise hard to verify.
He adds, “People can be much more honest on their LinkedIn profile versus their resume because there is essential validation when you post it on LinkedIn and everybody can see it.”
LinkedIn isn’t the only site shown to be accurate when predicting future job performance.
Professors from Northern Illinois University, the University of Evansville in Illinois and Alabama’s Auburn University have devised a “Facebook personality score”:
“The study looked at 56 Facebook users and scored them based on personality traits such as conscientiousness, emotional stability, agreeableness, extraversion and openness as perceived via data posted on each user’s page. Those scores were compared with supervisors’ evaluations of the users six months later, and the research showed a positive correlation: the higher the Facebook score, the higher the evaluation.”
Social media can indeed be useful in finding good employees, but what are the risks?
The risks you take:
Risk: Using prohibited information
By law, employers are not allowed to ask about or even consider job candidates’ age, race, sexual orientation, marital status, pregnancy status, disability, or religious affiliation. If the information is discovered some other way, it is still not allowed to be considered in the hiring process; the anti-discrimination laws apply no matter where an employer discovers the information. However, much of this “protected class information” is readily available on an individual’s social media profiles, which creates a problem.
“This is a really gray area right now,” says Patricia Sanchez Abril, professor of business law at the University of Miami. “How do you prove that the employer Googled you and learned that you want a big family, or that you keep the Sabbath? It’s much harder to prove, especially since many of these judgments are even formed subconsciously. The employer may not even realize that he or she is discriminating.”
Risk: Candidates feeling like their privacy has been compromised
While you as the employer want to select the best candidates possible when hiring, it works the other way around as well. Job applicants will be evaluating the companies they apply at to determine which would be the best fit and best opportunity. The recruiting and selection process is their first chance to see how they would be treated by potential employers. “If elite job prospects feel their privacy has been compromised, it puts the hiring company at a competitive disadvantage,” says Will Stoughton, a Ph.D. student at North Carolina State University and author of a paper describing research on social media screenings.
Risk: The “halo effect”/The “cloning effect”
BusinessNewsDaily.com explains, “You are a victim of the halo effect when you become so enamored by one particular aspect of a candidate — the fact that the person is from your hometown or attended your alma mater, for example — that it overshadows all other considerations.”
This term also applies when a hiring manager rushes to hire someone because of their impressive skills and attributes without really evaluating how well the candidate fits the position. Their skills might fit a different position more effectively. Be sure to review your hiring criteria before offering a position, even to good workers.
The cloning effect occurs when a job candidate reminds you of another superb employee that you once worked with. You become so impressed with the candidate because of the association that you overlook his lack of qualifications for the position.
Recommendations
Make a policy
Make your hiring policies clear and consistent, and write them down in an official document. Decide who will do the social media searches, what sites will be searched, during which stage of the hiring process will the search be conducted, and what type of information will be sought after. Following through with your policy with all candidates and all positions will help you avoid trouble.
Use an outside company
An even more secure method is to hire an outside company to do the research for you. Third-party firms such as Social Intelligence and Reppify will look for and report back any violent, racist, or other illegal behavior while omitting all protected class information. Utilizing a company like these protects you from legal risks when trolling candidates on social media.
SkilledUp.com explains what Social Intelligence can do for companies in the hiring process:
“[Social Intelligence] offers a comprehensive picture of an applicants’ online presence with protected class information redacted. They also offer social media background screening before and after hiring. The company signals a maturation in using social media for human resources, but their product does not yet give a clear picture of actual skills.”
Chirag Nangia explained how his company’s screening process works and what Reppify does to ensure no ethical or legal boundaries are crossed:
“With the advent of social media, companies have more information than ever on job candidates, and the process of evaluating those candidates can be lengthy. In the past, companies tried to determine candidate fit through their résumés. Today, employers perform web searches on candidates, learn more about them from social media, and examine their work samples. These processes introduce noise and are potentially risky – the Protected Class issue I’d mentioned before – often leading to inconsistent results as well. Also, it is a challenge to derive useful information, such as passion around a particular technology or relevant professional connections. To ensure no ethical or legal boundaries are crossed, our proprietary technology removes the noise, such as Protected Class data, ensuring both the privacy of the job seeker is protected while helping the employer get a better perspective on the best candidates for the position.”
If hiring a third-party is not an option for you financially, it’s recommended to at least have someone other than the hiring manager review the candidates’ profiles. An HR professional would be a good option, as they might have a better understanding of what information to avoid and what to look for.
Using a third-party to find relevant information also helps avoid the risks of the halo effect and the cloning effect.
Document your selection process
In addition to tracking all candidates’ applications and hiring documents, record social media screenings and information found that could be used in the selection process. Creating a thorough and consistent record of the process ensures that the HR department and hiring managers are on the same page, and prepares you with supportive documentation that shows what type of information was obtained if ever faced with an accusation of considering protected class information. Make sure you can justify why you selected the candidate you did over the rest and show that those factors were fair and relevant.
Wait until after a face-to-face interview
Waiting to search social media for further information is better to do after an in-person interview to avoid appearing as though a candidate was rejected based on protected class information found online. If a candidate goes through the in-person interview process, there is much more material for a company to base a decision off of, and is therefore less likely to be accused of unfairness.
Let the candidate know
To prevent candidates feeling like their privacy has been invaded, let them know in advance that you will be reviewing their profiles. You could even have them sign an authorization at the in-person interview before conducting your search. Since it is a common practice as of late, it will not come as a surprise, but it will likely make the candidates feel that they are being treated with respect and consideration.
What to look for
In 2012, Harris Interactive conducted a nationwide survey taken by more than 2,000 hiring managers and HR professionals of a variety of industries and company sizes. Among their findings, Harris Interactive discovered that hiring managers evaluate candidates’ character and personality by looking for the following:
- Does the candidate presents himself/herself professionally? – 65%
- Is the candidate a good fit for the company culture? – 51%
- To learn more about the candidate’s qualifications – 45%
- Is the candidate well-rounded? – 35%
- Are there reasons not to hire the candidate? – 12%
Of those that took the survey, 34% said they found content that caused them not to hire a candidate. That content included the following:
- Candidate posted provocative/inappropriate photos/info – 49%
- There was info about candidate drinking or using drugs – 45%
- Candidate had poor communication skills – 35%
- Candidate bad mouthed previous employer – 33%
- Candidate made discriminatory comments related to race, gender, religion, etc. – 28%
- Candidate lied about qualifications – 22%
However, information was also found by 29% of the hiring managers that caused them to hire a candidate. These findings included:
- Good feel for a candidate’s personality – 58%
- Conveyed a professional image – 55%
- Background information supported professional qualifications – 54%
- Well-rounded, showed a wide range of interests – 51%
- Great communication skills – 49%
- Candidate was creative – 44%
- Other people posted great references about the candidate – 34%
Other things to look for on applicants’ social media pages are:
- Work samples on their LinkedIn profiles to help verify skills
- Online communities reflecting topics they’re passionate about
- Recent professional connections on LinkedIn that show the candidate is active in networking
These are some ideas for you to pull from when looking at your job candidate’s profiles. However, be careful to only take into account information that is relevant to the position at hand.
“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,” said Rosemary Haefner, vice president of human resources at CareerBuilder. “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.”
You are now prepared to troll your job candidates—just proceed with caution.