Why A Prospective Employer Would Be So Interested In Accessing Your Social Media Profile?

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.

Why a prospective employer would be interested in assessing your social media profile?

– Employers

want to see that you are familiar with

, and commenting intelligently on industry information. They also want to see your social network and the contacts you can bring to their company.

Why would an employer be interested in your social media?

Most employers are looking for a reason to hire you. They want to see your great personality, your creativeness,

your wide range of interests and how you would fit into the company culture

. Social Media is great for measuring this as your ‘profiles' offer a real insight into who you are.

Why might prospective and current employers want to know your social media handles or public usernames?

An employer dropping in on your profiles may be checking to see how social media savvy you are. Employers may also

look to social media to help verify who you are

. Can they find a LinkedIn profile, a Twitter profile, and a Facebook profile all linked to the same person? It can help them verify your credentials as well.

Do prospective employers check social media?

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.

What employers look for in social media?

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.”

What employers look for on social media profiles?

Among the primary reasons employers hired a candidate based on their social networking site were:

candidate's background information supported their professional qualifications (38 percent)

, great communication skills (37 percent), a professional image (36 percent), and creativity (35 percent).

Will employers look at my Instagram?

The answer is

yes

IF your social media accounts are inappropriate or contain anything you would not want a potential employer seeing. … Your social media presence is the image you are presenting to the world and your employers will continue to look at your profiles even after you've gotten an offer.

What are some red flags that employers look for on people's social media accounts?

• Posting Inappropriate Material. …
• Ranting. …
• Lacking Distinction Between Your Personal and Professional Lives. …
• Poor Spelling and Grammar. …
• Lying about Qualifications. …
• Absence of a Social Media Presence. …
• Posting Derogatory Comments. …
• Plagiarizing.

Why is social media bad in the workplace?

Social media could make you

prone to bullying and harassment

. … Employees who bully other colleagues may create an intimidating or humiliating atmosphere to the rest of their co-workers and may eventually aggravate into severe mental issues that could harm both your employees and your business.

How do you know if you're a best candidate for a job?

1. The interviewer checks your references. …
2. The interviewer discusses moving. …
3. Instead of one interviewer, many. …
4. Interviewer provides next steps. …
5. Interviewer responds to your thank-you email. …
6. You shake hands with your future (fingers crossed) coworkers.

Can you get a job without social media?

Having a social media presence will certainly benefit your job search. So long as you are aware of what you are sharing publicly on social media doesn't discourage recruiters from wanting to interview you, it will help your credibility. However not having an online presence

can make a difference

.

Can employers see private accounts?

Employers can and do check out

potential employees' Facebook profiles

if they can get access to them. Some 56 percent of employers said they were likely to look at the social media presence of potential employees before hiring them, according to a study from British business psychology firm OPP.

Is social media background check legal?

Is social media screening legal? The short answer:

Yes

, BUT it has to be done correctly. If you're tasked with making hiring decisions and you decide to look at an applicant's social media activity on your own, you're opening yourself up to potential problems (such as discrimination lawsuits).

Can employers use Facebook against you?

Federal laws prohibit employers from discriminating against

a prospective or current employee based on information on the employee's social media relating to their race, color, national origin, gender, age, disability, and immigration or citizen status.

Why employers should not check social media?

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.