Hiring and Social Media

To Hire Or Not To Hire—Your Social Media May Make The Difference
You’re looking for a new job. You’ve put together a professional, well-structured resume that displays your education, experience and amazing skills. Your interview went very well; the interviewers seemed very receptive and you are confident you are a great fit for the position. In fact, you may be the perfect fit, however; if you are not careful, your social media could very well sabotage you’re getting hired.

Employers today look to social media to sort of look behind the resume, seeking some details about you that may not listed on your resume or be brought out in an interview. According to CareerBuilder’s annual social recruitment study, “The number of employers taking to the web to research applicants has steadily risen over the past few years – from 39 percent of employers in 2013 to 43 percent last year, to this year’s 52 percent.” Additionally, the recruiting platform, Jobvite’s 2014 annual Social Recruiting Survey 2 show results are as high as 93%. Getting that new job may depend on what they find.

So What Are They Looking For?
Some of the reasons employers are looking at social media sites are:

60% Are seeking back-up on your qualifications
56% Check to see if you have a professional online personal
37% Look for posts from other people post about you
21% Look for reasons NOT to hire you

Additionally, according to a 2015 survey from Career Builder of more than 2000 employers, 35 percent are less likely to interview job candidates if they are unable to find information online.

Career Builder’s survey showed 48% of respondents have found a reason NOT TO hire, the top reasons being:

Posting of provocative photos
Posting about drinking or drug use
Post bad-mouthing a previous employee
Poor communication skills
Postings of discriminatory comments relative to race, gender, religion, etc.

Conversely, 32% of employers 32% found reasons TO hire candidates; the top answers were:

Their social media supported their background and job qualifications
A candidate’s personality came across as a good fit for their company culture
Their social media portrayed a professional image
The candidate showed great communications skills
Candidate showed creativity

On The Job
Now that you’ve made it to that new job, don’t get too comfortable. Employers look at the social media of their employees as well as candidates. (Every company should have a policy regarding privacy and social media and it’s best to become familiar with your company’s policy as soon as possible.)

A 2014 Money Magazine article, “10 Social Media Blunders That Cost a Millennial a job – or worse,” 3 lists 10 things in your social media that could cost you your job:

Drinking in photos
Complaining about a job
Posting while during business hours
Making fun of your boss/team
Making fun of clients or donors
Talking smack about a job before you’ve even accepted it
Blowing your own cover; posting your image at the ball park while taking a sick day
Revealing company secrets
Sexual over sharing
Posting something embarrassing on the company Twitter feed