The Do's and Don'ts of Screening Candidates on Social Media

Social media mirrors the lives of various people; they share their achievements, joys, sadnesses, problems, and much more on social media platforms. Social media handles for candidate profile screening or background checks have gained momentum in the past few years because they allow employees to view information beyond the scope of resumes and professional profiles.

Social media profiles can reveal gender, race, ethnicity, disabilities, marital and pregnancy status, sexual orientation, political views, and religious inclinations. Some or all of these details about the employee should not be considered during recruitment. Conversely, social media screening can be an excellent tool for effective talent acquisition, help identify red flags early, and work as an informal reference check. Explore social screening thoroughly and examine the pros, cons, and best practices. 

Pros of Social Media Screening

The content available on candidates' social media profiles can give hiring managers insight into a candidate's character and provide a holistic view of the applicant. It helps hiring teams make fully informed decisions. 

1. Helps hiring teams to go beyond the resume: Some people post about their goals, plans, and thought processes online. They also showcase the causes and communities they are a part of. It can help companies determine how employees can contribute to their culture beyond work. 

2. Helps identify the warning signs: Sometimes, social media profiles can help recruiters identify discrepancies and reveal if candidates are dishonest in their resumes. It can also help identify any concerning behaviors that can become a liability for the company in the future. 

3. Helps you protect organizational reputation: Renowned companies have specific standards and guidelines regarding the public image of their employees. Sometimes, people resort to offensive language on their social media platforms, which can be traced back to the employer and lead to bad publicity. 

4. Helps with informal reference checks: Public profiles can help recruiters identify and verify the information provided by candidates in their resumes and work as an informal reference check for them. 

Cons of Social Media Screening

Social media screening pries into candidates' social accounts and personal lives, which raises privacy and ethical concerns. If not conducted properly, social media screening can lead to misinformation and skew the hiring process.

1. Might have false information: Data found online is not always reliable and credible. Many people share exact details, such as name, city, school, and other information, which might make it impossible to reach the correct candidate profile. Moreover, people engage in different identities or make parody accounts for fun, which might lead to bias or confusion. 

2. Might lead to discrimination: Social media accounts sometimes reveal a lot more about the candidate than they are comfortable sharing. They sometimes contain information regarding gender orientation, ethnicity, and other factors that might impact hiring decisions. 

3. Might lead to a negative brand image: Extreme scrutiny and social media profiling can damage a company's name in the market, and it might be considered too controlling, negative, and strict. 

4. It might be a waste of time. Random screening of candidates on social media can be time-consuming and inaccurate without proper guidelines and policies.

The red flags hiring teams can look for when shortlisting candidates are racist or sexist remarks, explicit content, illegal activity, and violent language and behavior.

Best Practices For Social Media Screening

Social media screening should comply with the laws, and companies should consider the following strategies to screen candidates without bias and prejudice. 

1. Hire a third-party vendor to run these background checks to comply with the rules around hiring and the general use of social media for hiring. 

2. Develop policies regarding social media monitoring and explicitly reiterate them during hiring.

3. Seek written consent from the candidate to review their social media profiles.

4. Only review the publicly available information and do not pry into uncharted territory or ask for their password.

5. Make a formal report of the findings to protect the company against allegations of discrimination. 

In India, the primary law impacting the use of social media for hiring is the Information Technology Act of 2000. The act regulates cybercrime and protects personal data, which warrants employers being careful about accessing and using social media profiles, especially if it can lead to discrimination based on religion, caste, gender, or any other. However, there is no specific law against using social media for hiring checks. Therefore, it becomes essential for companies only to access publicly available information, focus on relevant information, be consistent in their evaluation, and consult legal intervention in case of doubt.