Ok, so there is a fierce debate going on here Down Under at the moment as to the ethical and moral reasons for conducting Social Media background checks on candidates. With Social Media opening up the door now to far more scrutiny of people though Facebook Profiles, comments on blogs and pictures on Flickr to name a few, there are those among us who are more then comfortable turning the usual candidate reference check in to a Hollywood paparazzi witch hunt.
Ok, so that may be a bit harsh, the information and content is after all, right there for everyone to see. But where do we draw the line? Is it ok for companies to conduct Social Media Profile audits of future potential employees to ascertain their cultural fit or if they could damage the image of the company at all? Has this new medium lead to a wave of hypocrisy in companies saying they allow for a work life balance, however “we will watch your every move”.
The door that can be opened through discrimination of selecting or not selecting candidates is LARGE. How do you tell a hiring manager to hire on best talent, when after reviewing some social media sites, they think that another candidate will be a better match as they follow the same footy club, extreme that may be, but should we allow any of this in the first place?
What amazes me most about this, is that if this is to be allowed then why is their an argument of Candidate video profiles within the recruitment process? Another topic yes, but the same argument to a degree can be made.
I fear that if candidates, knowingly, are being background checked on their personal lives, or worse still, not being told that this is part of the hiring process, the pandora’s box of “He said, She said” discrimination will flow. This argument should be as simple as this….
Would you like someone prying in to your personal life to see if you are right for a job? Do you want, as a candidate to feel like you are a Hollywood celebrity and have to watch your every move?
Where has the trust gone, and where do we draw the line in the sand?
The debate has also been carried on over at Peerlo, see Riges thoughts here
What’s your thought, Social Media background checks or not……
Social comments and analytics for this post…
This post was mentioned on Twitter by Justin_Hillier: Social Media background checks http://bit.ly/arAEfb Are you For or Against?…
Yeah I’m against it.
I think sure, google them to make sure nothing scary comes up but then trying to get access to what they are doing on facebook, twitter etc is wrong because it opens managers up to making huge assumptions and/or discriminating against individuals who are unaware of the process.
We already know that interviews and ref checks aren’t great indicators of future performance so why are we placing so much emphasis on what people do online?
Once you’ve hired them- make sure your induction covers your social media policy
Absolutely not! I think in 10 years or so, maybe 15, this debate will be irrelevant. Largely because the upcoming generation, who are cool with sharing their ‘real’ selves, and more importantly, not judging each other on or in these things, wont consider any facebook activity in resourcing.
Its only the current decision makers – gen X mainly – who are making a big deal about what i may or may not put on facebook. It’s people who have not grown up with social media who are relishing in the voyeur type snooping ability it provides. I doubt very much my daughter, when she becomes a decision maker, will be making hiring decisions based on facebook profiles.
By making these judgments, and encouraging people to ‘manage my online brand’ or ‘fileter what you put about yourself’ or ‘manage your preferences’ we are encouraging people to not be authentic. But in the same breath we are saying that companies and individuals need to be more authentic!
Lack of authenticity, amongst other things, has brought the world to its needs. We dont need to make this worse.
And i dont agree with Riges either!
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