One has to ask a question, Is social media "powerful enough to cause an adjustment in personal and corporate behavior?" Let me throw some numbers at you, and then I will play the human resource manager for the new job you are applying for. "75 percent of recruiters are required to do online research of candidates and 70 percent have rejected candidates because of what they found," according to a New York Times article," and another study done by the market analyst firm On Device Research, "1 in 10 young job seekers have lost a job opportunity because of their social media profiles." Have you thought about what is on your profile and how some may get a very different first impression of you prior to an interview?
Now let me play the part of the hiring manager for Company XXX, yes I used XXX because I used social media to see how many of you have read 50 Shades of Grey, and I need to keep your attention. I am sitting here with a new application of Person A with a pretty impressive resume. Let me just go to Facebook and see what I can find out about this young go getter. Pretty handsome if I have to say so for myself but I see he goes to West Virginia University, he must love to party. Let me check his pictures, "is that a picture of a whiskey bottle and a coke with a snowman," he must be an alcoholic.
"Is that tattoos on his arms, do I even want to call this person in for an interview, what if he brings his entire bike gang."
"Does he really hang out in places that people look like this?"
"I have seen enough, I am glad I did not call Person A, I could have been fired for bringing in someone like this!"
First impression are lasting and do not assume that the hiring manager is going to look at everything you posted just what stands out or what has recently been posted. Now ask you self the question that started this, "Is social media "powerful enough to cause an adjustment in personal and corporate behavior?" or Company XXX may miss out on hiring
The fact are that social media will be used for realtors, hiring managers, and any other company or organization that gets your name. It is up to the individual to either set privacy standards or clean up the page. This is also holding corporate behavior to a new standard with the negative impacts that bad reviews can bring to an very large audience.
http://jobs.aol.com/articles/2013/06/04/applicants-rejected-social-media-on-device-research/
http://college.monster.com/news/articles/2145-could-a-new-social-media-background-check-cost-you-the-job
I thought you presented some excellent examples of the impact social media can play by allowing recruiters a window into a potential recruit's "real life". Opinions can be readily formed, even more so when it is negative and out there for everyone to see and virtually within seconds! Absolutely agree with you that it is up to the individual to set "privacy standards or clean up the page." Better yet, clean up their act!
ReplyDeleteI know having been in a position as a hiring manager in the past, that I used social media to investigate potential candidates. Looking a someone's LinkedIn account is a great tool to vet a candidate and find out more about their interest. I would only look at FB on occasion, because I didn't always feel I should be trying to pry into someone's private life. However, I know other hiring managers that have looked onto candidates FB pages, so as we make our lives public we should make sure we don't put something on our pages that would "paint" us in a bad light.
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