Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Should employers use social media in the hiring process
Impact of social media on hiring
Impact of social media on hiring
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
The presence of social media in hiring decisions is something that has become more prevalent with technological advancements. As the usage of social media websites becomes more frequent, the use of these websites in hiring decisions also raises. Issues that arise with social media sites interfering with the hiring process include legality versus ethicality conflicts and discrimination due to specific social identities reflected on profiles of the individual applicants. Corporations have in the recent decades been cracking down on ethical issues in the workplace, however, there are frequent issues that arise which question the values of the business versus legality of common issues where decision making is involved. One section of everyday …show more content…
If the employer who is recruiting applicants believes in using social media sites when looking into applicants falls into being both legal and ethical in terms of their stance on the issue, this could lead to potential discrimination upon the applicant based upon their specific social identity class. There are risks involved when social media accounts are misused by employers. Some of these potential risks include, borderline invasion of privacy, and the lack of evidence that the information obtained is a fair representation of the individual. Even though the information that is available on the internet is completely open to the public eye, employers can take the use of social media sites too far in some cases. An example of the use of employee social media accounts being misused by the employers is when in the city of Bozeman, Montana required all pending applicants to provide their usernames and passwords to all personal and business related social media sites. This practice was initially defended by the city because they viewed it as just another form of background evaluation for potential employees, however this received a nationwide public backlash and the practice was discontinued by the city (Brown, Vaughn). Victoria R. Brown and E. Daly Vaughn conducted a study that showed the influence on hiring decisions that social media accounts had. Their finding showed …show more content…
On the other hand, women showed an increase in the rate of which they would be recommended for a job as their social media accounts were examined by employers. This shows that employers used the personal lives of the women applicants while taking into consideration their hiring potential while with the male applicants, the employers did not value to information found on social media sites as much as they did with the female applicants
In recent years hiring managers have also begun checking out the personal social media pages of candidates under consideration for a position, a practice known as "social media background checks," ( Employees Should Accept
Over half of the applicants found on search engines and nearly two-thirds of the applicants found on social networking sites were not hired as a result of the information found on the sites. (Source H) Things found on the internet or social media are almost always taken out of context and doesn’t show what the person applying is actually like. Admission offices and employers are more likely to start and use social media to look up applicants. This can make it harder to get into a school or business if you have a social media account. According to and NACAC article, Eighty-eight percent of admission offices believed social media were either “somewhat” or “very” important to their future recruitment efforts. (Source B) Colleges now a days always look to see if applicants have a social media account that means that if they get access to the account there is a 38% chance that, that person does not get accepted. One-fourth of colleges surveyed indicated that they used Web search or social networking
Using social media for hiring process is more closely related to act utilitarianism. The reason for this is although Jack did not get the position he desired. Choosing the greatest action for the greatest good would be to not hire Jack based on his social media. Instead, it is best to continue the search to find the right person suited for the position because the right person will produce the greatest possible happiness for the greatest possible number. Choosing to invade Jack’s privacy and reviewing his social media is the ethical decision to be made. If Jack were to change his social media or not have a social media, then the possibility of Jack getting the job would be higher than it is now, but would not benefit the company. This option would affect the co-workers, Laura, the company and Jack. Hiring Jack may not produce the most good because he complains online about his current job, there is a possibility he could do the same if he would have got the job in Laura’s company. This would show to Jack’s co-workers and his company that he does not deserve to belong to the company. It is unprofessional to talk bad about a current employment, especially if it is broadcasted online for everyone, including coworkers to be informed with such information. If Jack was confronted by Laura for his social media, then there is a possibility that he can change his social media, by deleting his posts, or just changing his outlook on what to put online because it affects his future in applying for jobs. This option would do the greatest good because it allows Laura to continue the search to find the right person for the job. It will benefit the co worker and company because they will have an employee who is more devoted and more fit for the...
Social media’s usage in employment decisions has emerged as a contemporary problem in Employment Law for several reasons. The first reason for this trends development is the excessive usage of social media websites. According to a recent Pew report 65% of adults who use the internet have a social media presence in some form. (Hidy 70) With that in mind employers have begun to use the information found within a social media website to obtain information they do not otherwise get on a resume and in an interview. These web pages can give the employer and insight into the true nature of an applicant. However employers need to approach the information on social media websites with care as these sites are easily manipul...
Many managers and organisations make the mistake of assuming that what’s wrong is illegal and what’s legal is right and if it’s legal it must be ethical. Yet many ethical dilemmas present themselves before the decision makers where right and wrong can not be clearly identified. They involve conflict between interactive parts – “the individual against the organisation or the societ...
Over the years, an increasing number of Americans use social media to express their daily life. Employers have become increasingly concerned about how employees and potential employees are posting on social media. A background check shows a person criminal records or financial records but it doesn 't give an insight on who the person is truly is. Employer’s should have the right to request social media passwords from prospective employees. Employers ask for employees social media password because it allows them to see the workers posting offensive messages or negative statements about the company, keep tabs on the employees, whether they are on duty or off, and see if the potential employee is professional or a qualified job applicants.
Joos, J. G. (2008). Social media: New frontiers in hiring and recruiting. Employment Relations Today (Wiley), 35(1), 51-59.
The way future candidates view social media has evolved drastically over the past ten years as technology has evolved. From websites like LinkedIn to Twitter, each website provides a unique opportunity for employers to view a future candidate. According to Media Bistro/Infographic, “92%of companies” use social media as an initial step to recruit future candidates. Another statistic Media Bistro/Infographic provides is that 73% of employees hire using social media and 20% of employers say it takes less time to hire via social media. What do these small statistics mean? Majority of the time if recruiters use social media, it is like an extra step to background checks and screenings before the interviews. Social Media allows for employers to have additional information of their prospective candidate before hiring. These statistics show that employers look at a person’s profile based on the information that is public or accessible; yet the employer uses that decision to hire the future candidate. Based on what a person post, there are heavy consequenc...
People should embrace the practice of social network screening and use it to their advantage. People are now living in a technology-based age, making it only natural for the world of social media to be incorporated into an employers hiring process. A popular reason for not hiring a candidates after performing a social network screening was spelling and grammar errors in posts made online (Brown, V., & Vaughn, E., 2011, p.220), yet this can be easily fixed. Additionally, the internet allows people to demonstrate their skills as a candidate. For example, journalism students can take advantage of creating an online column, marketing students could created an enthralled blog, while art students could display their portfolios demonstrating their creativity and originality (Duffy, E. 2012). Social networking sites are a way to demonstrate ones skills before the interview process has begun. It enables people to impress potential employers by easily accessing a profile that shows the diversity of skills and talent on one page. This is the reasoning why the public simply needs to understand how to affectively present their profiles online. Furthermore, specific social networking sites were originated specifically to assist employers in the recruiting process. For instance, the predominance “of recruiters (93%) are using LinkedIn to discover talent. This is up from 87% in 2011 and 78% in 2010. Furthermore, 89% of recruiters have hired through LinkedIn” (Schawbel, D. 2012). Evidently, the internet has become a tool in the hiring process and continues to become a more influential asset when job-recruiting. In the foreseeable future, performing background checks on social networking sites to learn more about potential candidates will become c...
Although still true, unemployed individuals looking for jobs have access to exact matches for their interests within seconds through job search websites. Often times, today, when inquiring about a job, they will tell you to apply online. Proving to be effective, 96% of employers report they use or have used social media in the employment process and 48% of job-seekers credit social media for helping find their current job (Social 3). Not only does access to social media allow for more employment, it provides a place for coworkers to speak with one another outside of the work environment. Employees can discuss work related topics while in the comfort of their home. These tools can be effective in requesting or giving extra shifts, possibly eliminating the amount of
For starters, professions that were once readily available to multiple future employees are no longer due to their status on the social media site. Employers, in many jobs, often turn to the activities of future employees openly available when preparing for face or phone interviews. This transformed first step in the interview process has often closed down opportunities for individuals who may have solid credentials on paper yet actions that leave poor initial impressions. Moreover, the relationship of expectations for workplace efficiency between employee and employer is one in decline. Practices such as surfing Facebook during work hours are considered acceptable in the viewpoint of most employees, yet limit the amount of work completed while on duty. Employers, more than ever, are having to mandate removal of cellphones from the jobsite to ensure proper focus is on the tasks assigned to
“Recruiting and Marketing are Top Benefits of Social Media.” HR Focus 87.1 (2010): 1: S1. ProQuest Research Library. Web. 24 Apr. 2014.
Recruitment plays an important process in building a striving organization that meets the demand of the organizations mission or goals. Organizations need to know how to recruit with strategy so that the applicant meets the standards of the organizations or employer. In a competitive market companies struggle with finding applicants that are qualified for the job and receive too many applicants who are under qualified or just don’t understand what the company’s goals are. Organizations use press advertising as a method of recruiting and the paper focuses on how a clear job description is needed and how social media could change the future of recruiting through social media. Finally the paper looks at a Global Human Recourses Outsourcing, a recruitment service that provides recruitment strategies based on the applicant to providing a qualified employee to the employer. I chose this topic because employees are what make a business or organization strive and in order to do that use must hire qualified employees to complete the tasks that they re given and in order to do so the employer has to advance and adapt.
Social media can be an “essential tool in networking with professional contacts, making new contacts, recruiting employees, and keeping in touch with the world” (). Sites such as LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter can be used for “social job searching” (). Companies looking to hire can use these sites to search for job seekers (). Companies today are “expanding their hiring procedures to incorporate social networking sites” to recruit employees (). “Social media job searching sites can help hiring managers to get a more clear sense of their potential employees and their backgrounds before they have even interacted” (). Social media can be used to create a professional image of one’s self for employers to see. Social media is a main source for networking and job opportunities, and could be seen as positive tool for society and young adults to
Jenny Q. Ta wrote that "Many companies perform a background check on the internet before hiring an employee. If a prospective employee has posted something embarrassing on social media, it can drastically effect their chances of getting a job." (Ta) This supports the claim because some people feel that if workers post something inappropriate or outrageous on social media it may reflect poorly on their