Employers Using Social Networks for Screening Applicants

The Issue:
“What’s on your mind?” This question is asked by thousands, and answered almost twenty times a day by each Facebook user. Many of which do not realize that one simple phrase can be the determinant of “hire” or “fire” in the job market. Several employers are now using social-networking sites, such as Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter to not only fire employees for content, but also for screening potential candidates for a position. This topic is steadily approaching to become a major concern in the business world, and is seen as being an unethical action among employers.
What Employers Found:
One in five hiring managers in the human resources departments are conducting profile screenings using social networking sites (Social Networks Yielding Good & Bad Input for Hiring). Facebook has become the most popular medium for employers to use. Alone it has 66 million users, and more employers are steadily and increasingly using popular sites such as Facebook to check job candidates (Greenwald, Judy). In these sites they search for information on the candidate to determine the person’s character, criminal reports, personality, and other information. An additional nine percent of employers do not currently use these methods, but plan to in the future (Social Networks Yielding Good & Bad Input for Hiring). According to an article in Teller Vision, “Social Networking Sites Become Hiring Managers’ Tool” about thirty-five percent of employers reported they uncovered information about an applicant that prevented them from consideration (Social Networking Sites Become Hiring Managers' Tool). Listed below are the top concerns that employers found:
• 41% of users posted content about their drinking or drug usage
• 40% of users posted inappropriate pictures and information
• 29% of users was considered having bad communication skills
• 27% of users lied about skills and abilities
• 22% of users had an unprofessional screen name
• 21% of users has information linked to criminal actions (Social Networking Sites Become Hiring Managers' Tool)
CareerBuilder.com reported that 64% of employers found information online that actually benefited potential candidates (Is Web-Screening AP Job Candidates a Good idea?).
• 34% found people with great communication skills
• 31% found a link between the applicant and the organization culture
• 23% saw good professional resources from the candidate
• 23% thought the candidate was creative (Is Web-Screening AP Job Candidates a Good idea?)
Legality:
Most business employers believe that they are out of harm's way with looking at Internet profiles strictly because there are not any laws stopping them from searching those sites (The Internet Brings Risks and Challenges to Hiring). Paul Marks, vice president of Gilbert Tweed Associates (executive search firm), states in the 2006 HRFocus that human resource professionals also believe that they are entitled to obtain as much information as possible about a potential employee, and that social profiles are a good way to get results (The Internet Brings Risks and Challenges to Hiring). They argue that even though the social websites were created for fun and are for casual use, this medium is “fair game for their organization” (The Internet Brings Risks and Challenges to Hiring).
Is it Legal?
A few years ago, majority of businesses no longer required applicants to include a picture of themselves with their application to avoid discriminatory acts (Elefant). However, now employers are using networking mediums on the internet to screen. This now becomes a concern of discrimination towards the protected class (Elefant). Facebook, for example, includes people’s religious views, marital status, political views, and demographics; many factors that employers consider when hiring but do not publicize due to lawsuits. If employers are looking at these networks to screen applicants for hire, or to check on current employees for a possible fire, then who’s to say that they are not taking in these other personal factors such as race, religion, and sex.
A recent survey of 350 employers concluded:
• 44% of employers use social profiles
• 39% of employers searched their current employee’s profile (Elefant).
This causes many problems for individual wanting to get hired, and for those who are already in the company. Employers really have to use caution when using these applications because it could result into a lawsuit for those who are scrutinized.
Employer Consequences:
Due to the current economic status of the United States economy, there is a huge flow of job applicants searching for employment. For employers it is difficult to hire candidates from such a big band of people with the same qualifications (Jeffrey). In result to this, employers seek other methods which may or may not be the best alternative. Many companies use Internet searches to find more about a job candidate or a current employee (Jeffrey). There are some people who argue that this action has to be illegal. There is no law that prohibits the use of social profiles as background checks. However, the employer actions can lead to “discrimination claims and invasion of privacy claims (Jeffrey).
Discriminatory Actions:
Screening applicants using social networking sites could lead to employment charges on discrimination and litigation, and employers are setting themselves up for legal charges when they use social sites to rule out certain people (Greenwald). “Failure to hire” lawsuits are a small part of employment litigation, but observers do expect that this issue will arise and expand the use of employers utilizing social networks (Greenwald). In addition, the use of social websites to screen could be evidence in a lawsuit case (Greenwald). Employers should refrain from checking social profiles during their screening processes because it implies the use of discriminatory factors such as demographics (Greenwald). George Lenard stated in his article that “unlawful discrimination” could occur from the employer for checking social sites on the Internet because it affects the employer’s biases on the applicant (Lenard). He also suggest that employers may take into consideration a person’s skin color and sexual orientation which leads to adverse decision making for the employer (Lenard).
Invasion of privacy:
Individuals who try to claim that employers are invading their privacy have a slight chance of it ever being an actual privacy claim against an employer. Because the Internet has a lower “expectation of privacy”, you are liable for the content you post, websites you visit, and etc (CCH® HR MANAGEMENT). Although you have the privacy setting on the social website, employers can still get into you information especially if you have used a company computer (CCH® HR MANAGEMENT). URL history can always be used to track recent online activity, so viewing profiles at work would not be a grand idea (CCH® HR MANAGEMENT). Invasion of privacy claim is rather difficult for a person to use against an employer because it is our decision to post certain information on our social profiles. Also, companies can hire certain a third party to use Facebook, Twitter, and other mediums to see what you are posting. This causes a lot of issues because you never know who is viewing your profile or for what reasons.
Which Industries Search?:
One of the main stakeholders in this issue are the employers. They are the group who have the ability to screen, hire, and fire applicants based on decisions that they feel are necessary. According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) survey, about 30% of organizations reported that they have reviewed applicants’ profiles on social web sites (Society for Human Resource Management ). Among the organizations that responded to the poll, here are the percentages of those who actually view job candidates on the internet:
• Services sector: 30.9%
• Manufacturing sector: 21.9%
• Government/Non-profit sector: 20% (Society for Human Resource Management )
From those participants:
• 7.4% stated that they use this method in their standard screening process
• 41.2% occasionally check social sites
• 35.3% rarely performed profile checks via internet (Society for Human Resource Management )
Employers argue that the information they find on certain candidates, and on current employees are devastating to the company. The company has to maintain a certain image, and believes that the smallest things can lead back to the company. Businesses know that people are using Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, and other social sites to “express themselves regularly” (Hernández, Gina M.). Companies also believe that users are likely to combine their personal and professional attitudes on their social profiles (Hernández). This makes Facebook an easy medium for screening potential applicants in the job market.

Who’s in Danger?:
There are many groups of people that are affected by this issue. However, I believe the main targets are college students, or post-graduates. This group are frequent users of social media, and are very fresh in the job market. A study shows that people between the ages of 25 and 34 are the most common everyday users for online job searching; behind that age group was 18 to 24 years of age (Hernández). Many young adults are the ones who are getting ridiculed for having obscene pictures, comments, or blogs on their profiles; which then leads to them not being considered for a job or even fired from within the company.
Tips to a Professional Profile
A very high number of industries are reviewing applicants’ Facebook sites to make decisions on hiring, and is seen as a “vetting tool” (Greenwood, Bill). As stated before, employers are highly turned off by people who post information about drug use or alcohol use, those who post provocative pictures, and those who showed low communication skills (Social Networking Sites Become Hiring Managers' Tool). CareerBuilder.com surveyed about 3,200 human resource managers and configured a list of tips that could help job seekers who currently have a social profile (Grove).
1. Clean up social profile before you begin looking for work. This includes removing photos, links to inappropriate activity, and any content that may be unprofessional in the work force (Grove) (Jeffrey).
2. Create a professional profile on the social sites. Employers will be able to see more of the knowledge, skills, and abilities that you can offer to the job position (Grove).
3. Highlight positives about yourself. Try to leave out the negatives aspects of your life, and try to relate personal information to professionalism (Grove).
4. Be cautious of who you select as friends. This also includes monitoring what statements you post on other people’s profiles as well (Grove).
5. For those currently employed, try not to mention information about the company; or information about leaving the current field (Grove).
Dave Hawkins, the director of public policy and research at the National Association for College Admission Counseling says that students and current employees should limit the amount of information they share on these social sites, and avoid posting improper behavior (Greenwood).

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