98% of employers, as the survey states, conduct background research about candidates online to know more about them. … So, it is imperative that you must check
job candidates' social media profiles
as well. In fact, 90% of employers believe that social media is important to assess job candidates, as the survey states.
What percentage of employers check job applicants online profiles?
According to a 2018 CareerBuilder survey,
70 percent of
employers use social media to screen candidates during the hiring process, and about 43 percent of employers use social media to check on current employees.
While many employers use social media as part of an overall background check, it's
best to leave background screening
, including social media searches, to the professionals such as Barada Associates. The associates at Barada can protect hiring managers and their company from any legal risks.
Should potential employers look up employees online?
The short answer is yes.
It is completely legal for employers to check employees' social media profiles
. Some states even allow employers to solicit social media usernames and passwords from their workers. In general, state and federal privacy laws dictate what employers can and cannot ask for.
The researchers suggest that job seekers “
clean
up” their social media pages, including problematic content that others may have posted, and tighten their privacy settings. Companies and researchers should also explore alternative ways of using social media in the hiring process, they say.
Absolutely
. A recent study by the Society For Human Resource Management (SHRM) found that 84% of employers recruit via social media, and 43% of employers screen job candidates through social networks and search engines.
So, ethically, one can conclude that social media monitoring, investigation, and job decision-making by the employer
generally is moral
if the information is directly related to job performance and consent is obtained or the information is truly public (and of course the employer's policies and practices are otherwise …
Social media is used by potential employers to check job applicants' qualifications,
assess their professionalism and trustworthiness
, reveal negative attributes, determine whether they post any problematic content and even assess “fit.”
Employers and recruiters should be aware that social media pages, even if publicly available,
can contain inaccurate, distorted or out of date personal information
about job applicants, and should therefore be cautious about relying on that information.
When done improperly, a social media background check
can put your organization at risk for lawsuits
. … An employer researching a candidate on social media could easily learn that their candidate has one or more of these protected characteristics. This knowledge could cause a biased hiring decision.
- 83% of employers say they are turned off by references about using illegal drugs. …
- 71% are turned off by posts of a sexual nature. …
- 65% are turned off by use of profanity.
- 61% are turned off by bad spelling or grammar.
Screening an applicant's social media is not an objective screening tactic. … So, in short, although social media screening is an easy way to ensure the person you are hiring is respectful, reliable, and responsible, it's a risk, and
you should definitely think twice before doing it
.
Hiring and Screening Candidates on Social Media
This makes perfect sense as that is where the millennial candidates are now found. A survey conducted in 2020 of 1005 hiring decision-makers by the Harris poll found that
67% of employers
use social media sites to research potential job candidates.
With the advent of social media, employers
now have access to much more candidate information than
before, including information regarding personal interests, social interactions, and even previous work samples. From a job seekers standpoint, social media has made the task of finding a job much easier.
According to research, 34% of employers say social media sites have helped them decide whether or not to shortlist their applicants for specific job positions. …
Companies take an applicant's conduct on social media seriously
; showing behavior that is uncalled for can make or break their hiring potential.
Do employers look at your LinkedIn?
According to a recent study,
over 70% of employers check social media profiles of candidates
to learn more about them. … LinkedIn is possibly the best tool that a candidate has to showcase her professional persona.
Do employers look at your Instagram?
In particular, they look at
your Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, and other social media profiles you have publicly available
. … According to a survey by CareerBuilder, a full 70 percent of employers “use social media to screen candidates before hiring.”
A social media background check is similar to other types of background checks, like criminal checks. It
looks at a person's past behavior
since a person's past can be indicative of a person's future behavior.
Can employers look at your private Instagram?
no, not on
. they cannot demand that. they can only look at what's public. so, don't make anything public that you don't want employers to know about.
The CareerBuilder study found that
58% of employers conduct social screenings
to look for information supporting a candidate's qualifications for the job – 50% want to ensure the candidate has a professional online persona, and 34% want to see what other people are posting about the candidate.
Employers, for example, could still inspect your Facebook page, but they would do so without the personal password that gives them expanded access to your history and hidden files. As we have noted in the past, whether such legislation really is necessary, however, is subject
to debate
.
Do hiring managers Google you?
Like it or not, the majority of employers — 66 percent —
will Google a job candidate they're
considering, according to a 2018 CareerBuilder study. What's more, 70 percent will check out your public Facebook and other social media posts, and 57 percent won't hire you if they don't like what they find.
According to Career Builder, most employers who surf social media before hiring are looking for crucial details. First, they
hope to discover information that supports the applicant's qualifications
. Second, they're hoping to learn more about the applicant's personality.
How can one's online profile affect their job opportunity?
No matter how many social networks you belong to and how much experience you post on your profiles, you'll
lose many opportunities
if the material you post online is inappropriate. Many times, employers will check the social media profiles of potential employees as a way to judge their character.
Private companies and employers can discipline or fire an employee for what they post on social media. There are, however, a few exceptions to this rule. In general, employers cannot fire you for posting:
Truthful statements about working conditions
, like harassment or unsafe working conditions.
- Complaints About Your Current Job or Employer. …
- Strong Opinions and Rants. …
- Current Work-Related Plans or Projects. …
- Excessive Status Updates. …
- Overly Personal Photos. …
- Home Address and Phone Numbers. …
- Bad Grammar and Poor Etiquette.
