Social Media`s effect on recruitment

There's little escaping social media's effect on a number of industries, but what might surprise some people is just how much social media is affecting the recruitment process. Via social media and websites such as Twitter, Facebook and YouTube, employers have access to a lot more information about candidates than they've ever had before. The same can be said for potential employees about companies, as individuals can research businesses just as employers can look up candidates.

In terms of how employers seek to recruit, leaning on social media as a way of both advertising a company and of finding employees seems a solid approach, given that some 1,736 tweets were sent on Twitter per second at the end of 2011, for example. Social media is where people are and it's where the information is. It's where conversations are happening, relationships are enhanced and where people come to find out more. The first advantage to recruiters is that as part of this nexus, they have these connections at their fingertips and this is a powerful tool.

Screening Candidates

This information can be put to good use in finding candidates who are just what the company needs. Recruiters are actively utilising social media in this way too. A CareerBuilder survey in August 2010 found that around a fifth of companies quizzed said they used social media to find out more about candidates. Since prospective employees can talk to companies through social media and conduct research of their own, therein lies another way for an employer to gauge a candidate. How much interest is that person showing in the company? If the candidate is interested in environmental issues and is seeking environmental jobs, they engage with a like-minded company using social media. Perhaps that business should then recruit that individual.

First Impressions

Of course, social media can tell companies negative as well as positive things and so this medium may be useful to companies looking to root out the people that could embarrass the business. Equally though, social media can have a negative effect on the recruitment process. The same information that companies use to find out more about a candidate could misrepresent that person entirely. The recruiter could see a few Facebook shots that make the candidate look immature, for example, but these photos may be of a party on holiday and represent a side of an individual that would never come out in the workplace.

It could be said that just the mere act of researching a candidate through social media is unfair and prone to misinformation; some may even argue it downright taints the process. It certainly complicates the matter of applying for a job when candidates know that before they even get to the interview, they have to navigate the social media minefield first. For some people, knowing that social media may undermine their chance at a position forces them to turn their social media profile into a closed book, which is not ideal for anyone.

Is It Legal?

On a slightly different note, another potential negative side of social media's influence on the recruitment process is that companies run the risk of encountering legal issues. If a recruiter looks at a candidate's Facebook page and then rejects that individual, the recruiter could be at risk of running foul of privacy legislation should the company then not reveal to candidates exactly how they were screened.