Für die vom 27. bis 29. April 2015 in Düsseldorf stattfindende eHRM-Konferenz HR Data Analytics 2015 haben wir den Veranstalter IQPC um einen Gastartikel für unsere Leser gebeten. Anbei daher ein paar passende Informationen zum Screening von Bewerbern (in Englisch).

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„Smart Talent Management durch HR-Digitalisierung realisieren, Mehrwert in den Fachabteilungen sichtbar & RoI von eHRM messbar machen. Die einzige Konferenz im Challenge-Your-Peers-Format.“

Anmeldungen für die Konferenz können hier vorgenommen werden. Agenda der Konferenz!

Do’s and Don’ts of Screening Applicants Using Social Media (Gastartikel IQPC)

Let’s face it, social media has become an indelible part of the fabric of our society. Even those who eschew Facebook likely have a profile on LinkedIn, if only for its networking capabilities. And the majority of America’s workforce, particularly those aged 40 and below, has multiple social media profiles including Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and LinkedIn that they use frequently. These outlets and the photos, videos and comments shared there could provide reams of information that a prospective employer could examine prior to hiring a candidate.

But just because the information is out there, should you examine it as part of the hiring process? Is it ethical to do so? Or is it overly intrusive? Driving by a candidate’s house and looking in their windows is, without a doubt, dodgy but since social media is information people put out into the websphere with the intent to share, it’s not as if you’d be accessing confidential or hidden data to examine their profiles and comments. So what’s okay and what’s not okay when it comes to screening applicants using social media?

Consider these do’s and don’ts…

Don’t Go Looking for Protected Class Information. When you have a resume on your screen, you have work history, educational and achievements, but attributes protected by discrimination laws are not there – and for good reason. But once you start checking out social media profiles, you can easily suss out information that could result in a discriminatory hiring decision. Some employers don’t want to deal with a disabled worker or hire a woman who is pregnant, but considering these factors in the hiring process is illegal – and these are things social media will undoubtedly reveal. Whatever protected class information you find, don’t record it, don’t share it with anyone else involved in the hiring process and try to forget you even know about it. Roughly 70% of discriminatory hiring lawsuits are won by the rejected candidate, so this is no trifling matter.

Do Check Out Their Attitude. People are always on their best behavior in an interview, but on social media they are much more themselves, so you can get a glimpse of who you’re really hiring. If they post upbeat information, share good news and have positive comments to their posts, they likely have a sunnier disposition that you’ll see on the job. On the flip side, it’s worth considering whether they’re constantly inflaming others and inciting trouble with their comments. Do they go on profanity laced rants? Do their social media interactions seem to be about developing and maintaining positive relationships or creating controversy? This can give you an insight into the personality you’ll likely see at work and is valuable information you can certainly take into account when hiring.

Don’t Go to Extraordinary Lengths. It’s okay to check out public profiles on LinkedIn, whatever portion of Facebook that’s available to the public or check out their Twitter feed. What’s not okay is to friend a candidate or have someone else do it so you can see the full spectrum of their Facebook activity or try to access any portion of their social media profiles that are intended to be kept private or are not accessible by the public at large.

Do Verify Resume Information. LinkedIn is a great tool to verify resume information. There will likely be some differences between a LinkedIn work history and the resume you were sent, but you should focus on major discrepancies. And since public scrutiny tends to keep people more honest – former coworkers are likely in the candidate’s LinkedIn network – the job history there should be accurate. What’s more, you can check out recommendations others have made about the candidate. If there’s a job missing or significant differences in dates of employment or job titles, you should ask the candidate for an explanation rather than making a snap judgment. Since LinkedIn is public and intended for business networking, you’re not crossing any lines by letting the candidate know you’ve checked them out there.

Don’t Ask for Social Media Passwords. Over the last few years, as social media has grown, some employers have taken the harsh stance of demanding employees and applicants hand over their Facebook and other social media passwords. This is just going too far. Not only that, there is legislation pending in a number of states to prevent what many consider work intruding too far into our personal lives. There are also several lawsuits in the works that deal with this as well. You don’t want to be on the wrong side of the law or liable for damages, so limit your investigation into what’s in the public domain. You should be safe if you stick to areas where employees and applicants have no expectation of privacy related to their digital content (i.e. public profiles, public feeds, comments made in public forums, etc.).

Do Take Anything You See With a Grain of Salt. A recent study found that 76% of Facebook profiles in the UK feature the user drunk. That doesn’t mean they’re alcoholics or won’t make great employees. Social media interaction is often – literally – a snapshot of a moment of someone’s life. Instagram is full of people taking selfies while at parties, making goofy faces and having fun (some of it outrageous). But these do not make up a complete picture of the candidate and should not be judged as such. Short of a photo of someone doing something illegal or abusive, you should not take these into account or tell anyone what you saw. To be safe, it’s best not to browse Instagram or other photo sharing apps. There’s nothing there that will inform your decision in a meaningful way.

Don’t Waste Too Much Time on Social Media Screening. Social media is like Alice’s rabbit hole. One click leads to another, one comment to another, a post to a photo to a link to a video and so on. If you have a candidate who’s an active social media user, you could literally spends hours (or even days) trolling through all of their feeds gleaning what will largely be useless or protected class information. This is not necessary and is a waste of your time and resources. Checking the resume against LinkedIn and if the candidate looks viable for hiring, taking a glimpse at their other social media profiles to do a fast personality check is enough to help inform your recruiting process without trespassing into the intrusive or illegal.