Reviewing Social Media Profiles

Reviewing Social Media Profiles

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Reviewing Social Media Profiles

Why employers use social media in hiring decisions

Social media was created to facilitate the creation and exchange of user-generated content.  Facebook is one of the common sites, which people use in sharing different information. Initially, Facebook was used by college students for interaction, but at the moment, it is widely used in creating a connection between friends and families.  It is easier for people in this digital era to communicate, share their experiences freely by simply posting pictures, creating and sharing videos, among other things.  But then this whole thing has been taken to another level, impacting the hiring process when it comes to job opportunities. According to statistics, most employers tend to review the social profiles of candidates before hiring them.  This means that there is a need for candidates to be cautious about what they post, especially when looking for jobs. This is strange, but it’s happening (Mkono & Tribe 2017).  The aim of this paper is to discuss why employees decide to review the social profiles of individuals before hiring them.

There are various reasons as to why employers decide using social media in making their hiring decisions.  One of them is to find out the general kind of person they are expecting to meet.  Social media helps in bringing out the first impression of the individuals.   Recruiters usually aim at seeing specific skills and personality, which may be of benefit to the organization.  They believe that they have a great responsibility of providing the company with the best employees. This makes the recruiters go an extra mile, by going through the social profiles of the candidates before they even interview them.  In most cases, this method tends to work.  Apparently, most candidates are aware of this trick, and they decide to keep their profiles private.  This is simply to avoid being judged in a certain way, making them miss the chance of getting employed.  

As much as social media allows various behavior to be posted, the same behaviors may be socially stigmatizing in a different social context.  This also explains another reason why it is important to have the social profiles of the candidates being reviewed.  In most organizations, positive ethics are highly encouraged.  This is because, in a firm, an employee is expected to meet other workers, clients, and even leaders who the candidates will be expected to work with.  Therefore aspects like courtesy, use of appropriate language, among other things, mean a lot to the organization (Schmidt & O’Connor 2016).  Through social profiles, it is possible to clearly view the way an individual interacts with other people, the form of communication used, among other things.  The interaction of the candidates with people in a different context can help in defining the kind of personality they possess. This helps the recruiters make a better decision by picking on people who have the ability to interact with others in a socially constructive way.  

Other than the general profile of the candidates, recruiters also rely on social media information in determining what the candidate is capable of doing.  Organizations in most cases, don’t simply look for people with specific skills required at the organization. At times personal talents/interests also matter.  This usually happens in cases where recruits are looking for people who can create a positive impact on society.  Healthcare institution is a good example, where they tend to be interested with individuals who can talk to other people, advise them on various aspects, and create a positive change.  Psychological issues like addiction, depression, among other issues tend to be well carried out by people who have more other than academic skills.  Social media, in this case, helps in describing the interests of a person. This can be whether he/she is the kind of person interested in sharing aspects which encourage a healthy kind of lifestyles or not.  In this case, it becomes relevant for recruiters to go through the profiles, in order to find the best people.