Social Media Accounts: Assets or Detriments? A college student has just received his diploma and is ready to head out into the workforce. The new graduate does everything to prepare for his first interview. He makes sure to practice all of the common interview questions, sets out his classy outfit, and checks his resume so that it is perfect to the “t”. Although the graduate is nervous about creating a good first impression, what he does not realize is that he has already been viewed through his social media account. Although this a fictional scenario, this situation is not an uncommon one for many graduates. The process of using a graduate’s social media account to view their character is not only fair, but necessary. Any time someone posts, …show more content…
Walking out of college, many graduates have little to no experience in the workforce or their career major. Hence, it is imperative for employers to examine who they are potentially hiring. Without much experience to excogitate, companies must employ other resources. The process of hiring a new employee is similar to that of buying a car. Employers do not just want to hire based off of an impressive resume alone. They want to open the hood and inspect deeper. It is essential for an employer to be cognizant of the integrity of the applicant they are about to employ. This is especially true for companies who are searching for applicants in social media or publicity departments. In fact, many corporations are seeking graduates to further their insight into the world of social advertising. This is validated by Monica Wilson, a career services director at Dartmouth College, “... [Senior Executives] haven’t had the time to invest in really understanding the capability of social media. They’re looking to the younger folks who are using it every day to help guide them” (Wilson 4). To explicate, it would only make sense for employers to use social media to discover prospective employees. Social media accounts should not be viewed as a detriment to graduates, but rather an advantageous opportunity to promote their reputation as well as their technical abilities. If used properly, social media can elevate the graduate’s prospect of acquiring a position. For example, “Following basic codes of acceptable social media conduct can work in favor of job candidates…” (Hopkins 13). To explain, when someone/ a graduate utilizes their accounts in a respectable manner, this may actually advocate for/advance the graduate’s interview
For example, Rosen states, “According to a recent survey by Microsoft, seventy percent of U.S. recruiters report that they have rejected candidates because of information found online,” (Rosen, Para. 3). Most of the time it is a necessity for companies to do online and background research on candidates because of wanting a safe environment to work in. Social media sites are the fastest way to see who a person truly is. But sometimes it can just be a character they posses because that’s what they’re followers want to see rather than their true self.
In the year 2016 almost everyone applying to a school or business has a social media account. College admission offices and businesses have the ability to check applicant’s social media before they accept them into their school or business. But they should not be looking at social media because it does not give an accurate portrayal of the person applying.
Social media outlets have allowed society to share more information than ever before. The often forgotten fact by internet users is that once a picture, Tweet, or post has been published to a social media site it forever becomes part of the annals of the web. While many believe what they do and say on a social media site will not affect their chances at future employment or provide grounds for termination, the reality is quite the opposite. A new trend has emerged in Employment Law in which employers are making employment decision based off of what they find in applicants or employee’s social media activity. The questions regarding the legality of this practice are extensive. While social media can be a powerful tool in recruitment of a potential candidate, much of the personal information contained on these websites are protected characteristics under existing laws that protect employees from discrimination. Employers need to careful to balance employee’s rights against the business needs of a company.
More and more, colleges, universities and employers are using online research as part of the evaluation and selection of future students and employees. Social networking and online presence are becoming the source of applicants’ scrutiny, sometimes overrunning private spaces and bringing up issues of freedom of speech. In an effort for avoiding the violation prospect students’ rights, as well as attaining some legal grants to incorporate social media presence screening in the admission processes we proposed the following Social Media Presence Policy for College Admission.
Checking social networking profiles is an acceptable practice for potential employers or college admission officers. Students who post on social media
Losing a degree was not only the end of Stacy Snyder teaching dream, but was also the beginning of a lengthy legal battle. One of the contributing reason of her dismissal from campus and teaching assignment was, because of a photo she had posted on her MySpace account. Picture was not only the single factor which played a role to deny her college degree, however it was also a poor evaluation regarding her professionalism in the classroom. Nevertheless, not knowing of privacy setting on social network had played an immense role in this particular incident. Photo posted on Stacy Snyder’s MySpace account was the primary reason for University to deny her college degree.
Joos, J. G. (2008). Social media: New frontiers in hiring and recruiting. Employment Relations Today (Wiley), 35(1), 51-59.
Social network profiles are the most essential tool to judge job applicants because it reflects a good image of the job applicants. For example, if the company is recruiting a writer, it would be better to choose a person who has a blog web page in a blogging website such as Word-Press that shows and reflects his/her ability in writing. In addition to that, a Human Resources manager can check this person’s Facebook and Twitter in order to see his/her grammar and writing skills. This information provides accurate and complete picture about the candidate. (Fish & Lee, n.d). Moreover, social network profiles can prove the application as it shows applicant’s participation in many fields. For instance, when a recruiter enters person’s blog that includes art and design work, it will show his/her passion to work as a designer in the company. Therefore, it is important to judge applicants based on their social media profiles because it shows a good image of the person.
Companies dismiss abilities that are easy to replicate, such as making a social media account. In the article, “Quit Social Media. Your Career May Depend on It.”, the author writes, “In a capitalist economy, the market rewards things that are rare and valuable. Social media use is decidedly not rare or valuable. Any 16-year-old with a smartphone can invent a hashtag or repost a viral article” (Newport, 2016). Cal Newport, the author of this article is a millennial computer scientist that has never had a social media account. That alone proves that you can still be successful without social media. The quote demonstrates that anyone that has access to wifi can acquire a social media account, if they really wanted to. Some popular social media platforms, but are not limited to, are Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat. These platforms allow the user to post statuses and photographs so other people can view them. The claim is that social media isn’t rare or unique, since there are billions of accounts made already; it won’t make an individual stand out more than others. Furthermore, companies hiring new people for a job placement will look for one-of-a-kind candidates; something that makes them extraordinary compared to the rest, as an individual that exceeds these
utilize social media websites causing their fans to feel “like they ‘know’ them through their
As people, our profiles should be created authentically, but the majority of time those profiles are created with false information to brand a certain image of ourselves. Our integrity becomes challenged, even tarnished, when our actual character and portrayed character intersect with each other due to the use of social media. As resourceful and convenient the Internet has been for millions and billions of people, it has also prevented people from revealing their true identities and making actual connections with other people.
Social networking sites have become popular over the years, like twitter, which allows users to present themselves through their tweets using photos, hyperlinks, or hashtags. Boyd (2010) argued that social media platforms like Twitter encourages members to use their actual identities but it does not mean people are presenting themselves online the way they do in real life.
As college students and adults prepare for the real world, people are constantly faced with how to prepare for interviews and the hiring process with jobs. One factor of that is the gray area that is the idea of social media and networking helping to assist with the hiring process. Technology has become a privacy and employment issue that future employees face. When it comes to employment companies a have no boundaries and employers need to realize that social media should be used only for non-bias practices and not employment decisions based on someone’s Facebook post. Topic: How Privacy and Employment Laws effect Social Media changing the Hiring Process.
Platforms such as Facebook and Twitter allow users to access company information, photos and employees as well as ask questions and express personal experiences with the company. It also allows potential employees to understand the vibe of the organization and gain a deeper and more personal understanding than a website. However, with social media, it is important to not ove...
Social media avenues are a new, upcoming, and popular way to advertise for businesses and for people to connect to each other. Alexis Ohanian once said that "Being effective at social media, whether for business or personal use, means capturing people who have short attention spans. They 're only a click away from a picture of a funny cat, so you have to make your thing more compelling than that cat. And that can be a high bar." (Ohanian) Powerful usage of social media can have a big impact.