Should Twitter and Facebook Be Part of

Your Hiring Decision? What Do Job Seekers Think!

By: Dianne Shaddock

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Should Twitter and Facebook Be

Part of Your Hiring Decision?

What Do Job Seekers Think!

Special Report From: EasySmallBusinessHR.com

Should you be checking the references of your potential hires using

Twitter and Facebook, or the myriad of other social media outlets?

This is an extremely controversial topic; especially for those

looking for work or contemplating a job change.

A short time ago, I shared what I thought would be a helpful article

with my Facebook friends and family, alerting them to the fact that

more employers are using social media sources such as Facebook

as part of their decision making process when hiring. The article

highlighted the importance of not putting anything on a social

media site that you would not want your current or potential

employer to see.

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Here’s what I wrote:

“Be careful how you use Facebook and Twitter. Hiring

managers are checking social networking sites more often as part

of their reference checking process. Any inappropriate or

questionable content can rule you out as a candidate if you are

looking for a job”.

Some of the comments that I received were fascinating:

…”you just can’t get a break, can you?”

…”isn’t there some sort of privacy infringement here?”

“Facebook and Twitter are social outlets and employers

shouldn’t be trespassing on one’s personal life”

“…where do we draw the line?”

“If a company cannot solely use my cover letter, resume and how

I respond during an interview as an apparatus to make a

decision, than I really should think twice about wanting to

working for that company.”

As you can see, some potential candidates view the use of Twitter

and Facebook as “infringement” and “trespassing” on what is seen

as a personal and private resource where they should be free to be

who they are with friends and family. There is the strong belief

that what is discussed on Facebook is no measure of the person

that they are on the job, and therefore it should not be used to

measure behavior when working.

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Do we not take on a different persona depending on the audience

or environment? Is the professional and focused person that we

are when we are at work the same person that we are when we are

interacting with our family and friends in an informal

environment?

Some argue that is natural to have different personas depending on

our environment and whom we are engaged with. Some may also

argue that we should not be judged because we are letting our hair

down through a medium that was set up for us to do just that.

Essentially, a medium that in a very public way, allows us to share

our everyday pleasures and disappointments with those we chose

to share these feelings with.

Yet isn’t the information on the Internet public domain? If a person

chooses to post on a public domain site, do employers not have the

right to access the site in order to “see another side” of a potential

employee?

I don’t profess to have the right answers on this subject but I do

have some very specific advice. Employers should not use social

media as the only source of reference information on potential

employees. It’s important to get a rounded view of potential

candidate’s by checking both current employer references and past

references.

It’s also important for employers to weigh the content that they are

seeing on the site and not make rash judgments with the exception

of content that is clearly inappropriate.

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For those looking for work, the new reality is that employers are

using social media as part of their job reference process in order to

get a “360” degree view of a potential hire.

The types of posts that can potentially rule you out as a candidate

are posts with inappropriate language or pictures. Or posts that are

derogatory or demeaning in any way. Employers are also looking

for how you communicate online so be careful of grammar and

spelling errors. Never use the Internet to post disparaging remarks

about your current or former employers.

Delete anything that may be questionable before looking for a new

job. Don’t lose sight of the fact that you are conversing on the

Internet and not at the kitchen table. Remember that others have

access to your information.

Make sure that you utilize all of the privacy options allowed with

social media sites if you have concerns about who will be viewing

your profile.

Use of social media sites are growing by leaps and bounds daily.

Parts of our lives that were once very private really are available

for all to review if you chose to participate in social media sites on

the Internet. Both employers and potential employees need to be

mindful of the power of this new medium and not abuse it.

Proceed with caution.

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