Human Resources Use Social Networks to Research Job Candidates
According to a recent survey conducted by Harris Interactive for CareerBuilder.com, 45 percent of human resources professionals in the U.S. utilized social networks as a research tool to check on job candidates at least on occasion.
The survey found that 7 percent of 2,667 human resources respondents said they always used social networks to research job candidates, while 11 percent said they did so frequently.
Another 27 percent of respondents said they used social networks as research tools on occasion.
Meanwhile, 11 percent said they planned to start doing this and 44 percent said they currently don’t do this and have no plans to start.
Forty-one percent of respondents to the survey, which was conducted from May through June, said they used search engines to research job candidates, while 29 percent said they used Facebook, 26 percent said they used LinkedIn and 21 percent said they used MySpace.
Meanwhile, 11 percent said they searched blogs for research purposes and 7 percent used Twitter.
Information Technology (63 percent) and Professional & Business Services (53 percent) were the two industries most likely to use social networks to check on job candidates.
Provocative or inappropriate photos or information posted by job candidates (53 percent) was the top reason that human resources professionals passed on them after viewing social network profiles, according to the survey, followed by posted information about candidates drinking or using drugs (44 percent) and observations of bad mouthing previous companies, co-workers or clients (35 percent).
Poor communication skills (29 percent), discriminatory remarks about race, gender, religion, etc. (26 percent), lying about qualifications (24 percent) and the sharing of confidential information from previous employers (20 percent) were also popular reasons for human resources professionals disregarding job candidates.
On the bright side, getting a good feel for a candidate’s personality, which could lead to him/her being a good fit within the company culture (50 percent) was the top reason that human resources professionals hired job candidates, followed by getting background information that supported the candidate’s qualifications for the job (39 percent) and observing a professional image (39 percent).
These human resources professionals who hired candidates after viewing their social network profiles also observed their creativity (38 percent), great communication skills (35 percent), well-rounded nature (33 percent), great references (19 percent) and awards and accolades earned (15 percent).
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