Social media permeates so many aspects of daily life. Most people use it to promote themselves, document a trip, or provide big life updates to family and friends. Occasionally, we may post about our political views or show off a new purchase. Lots of people use social media platforms to improve their professional network and opportunities.
It’s no secret that many employers review the social media profiles of candidates during the hiring process. For years, mentors and professors have warned the digitally savvy, incoming workforce to audit their public social media profiles to ensure the content was appropriate should a potential employer take a look. This additional level of vetting has led to some interesting questions to consider.
What role should a candidate’s social media presence play when it comes to the hiring process? Should candidates be judged by hiring managers for their social media history? Is there anything useful that a recruiter can glean from reviewing a candidate’s social media posts? Let’s take a moment to examine the benefits and drawbacks of using social media to further vet job candidates.
What a candidate’s social media can show recruiters
The most obvious reason recruiters review the social media profiles of candidates is for further screening. Recruiters can try to determine if the candidate would be a good cultural fit for their client. What a candidate posts on their social media can give recruiters a sample of personality traits and what their passions are. Will those values and beliefs a candidate has openly shared be a good fit for that particular position at that company? Reviewing social media profiles also can help a recruiter potentially learn more about the skills of a candidate. With more and more social media users posting videos highlighting different talents, recruiters are getting more of an indication about what candidates are actually like a what skillsets they actually have.
Obviously, recruiters want to avoid at all costs putting forth candidates to clients that display racist, homophobic, violent, and other offensive rhetoric on their social media profiles. Employers want to make sure the people they hire embody the mission and values of their company. If a candidate makes it through the selection process and is hired, it is almost ce