Case Scenario:
Social recruiting makes sense. Recruiting has always been a social process—prospecting for candidates, matching candidates’ qualifications against job needs, interviewing employees to determine how they fit the organizational culture, background checks—all of these have a social component that can be enhanced with social media. Today, some organizations use their communities to locate prospects. In the recent downturn, some have created communities of “alumni” employees, meaning those who have been laid off, to keep track of them in case an opportunity to rehire good performers occurs. Professional recruiters also build and use existing communities to locate prospects for openings they have. In addition to prospecting, employers also use candidates’ SM sites, particularly LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter, to get a sense of the candidate as a person and to find any potential behavior or attitude problems. However, using social data exposes protected data, which is data about candidates’ sex, race, religion, sexual orientation, and disabilities that is illegal to use for hiring decisions. In most cases, it is clear that none of this data should influence such decisions, but the issues can sometimes be cloudy. Can an organization reject a person shown sitting in a wheelchair for a job that requires walking? The legal precedents are not clear. What is clear, however, is that by consuming that data the organization loses a common defense against bias lawsuits: “We didn’t know.” Because the organization does know, it must be careful not to use such data inappropriately and also to appear not to have done so. The general guideline is to treat every candidate the same. If social media is used for screening for one candidate, use it for all. If social media is used only after the first interview, conduct that same process for all. Furthermore, keep screenshots of every Web page that informs the hiring decision. Finally, when organizations do find worrisome indicators on SM sites, they may want to allow the candidate an opportunity to address any concerns during an interview. Data that appears problematic may be harmless or an error. Now, put the shoe on the other foot. What should you, as a job candidate, do? First, as of now at least, join LinkedIn and use it only for professional purposes. Fill your profile with appropriate professional data. Strive to ensure that your data indicates an ambitious interest in whatever field you choose. Build your connections and check out LinkedIn tools like the JobsInsider for using your contacts to obtain references inside organizations. Second, assume that any prospective employer will use all of your SM data that it can find. Remove inappropriate content from sites that can be publicly accessed. You should assume that any prospective employer will use all of your public SM data. In case it might ask for private data, which has happened,17 some students set up a decoy site. Such a site is a public site that has your most professional and responsible social data. Use a different name and identity for your real social site. On the other hand, you might decide that any company that wants your private social networking data is not a company for which you want to work. By the way, what is funny or innocent to you and your friends may not appear so to a potential employer. If you’re in doubt, ask professional people who are 10 or 20 years older than you to assess your social data. Finally, keep in mind that social media is a double-edged sword. Check out the blogs, commentary, and any other postings of people who already work at prospective employers. See, for example, the employer reviews on www.GlassDoor.com. You’re not necessarily looking for organizational dirt; you’re looking for a good fit between you and the organization’s culture. If, for example, an employee’s blog or social data indicates employees travel frequently, that can be good or bad for you, depending on whether you want to travel. But at least you’ll know from a reliable source. Human resources may say, “We have flexible working hours,” and employees may agree, “Yes, we do. Work any 65 hours a week you want.” If you do find employee social data that concerns you, at an appropriate time and in a polite way, review those concerns during your job interview process.
Q1. Define protected data. In your opinion, what kind of protected data should never be used for hiring decisions? Name and describe three situations in which it is at least debatable whether such data should be used.
Q2. Think of two organizations for which you would like to work. Assume both organizations review job candidates’ SM data as part of their initial screening process.
a. Name and describe three positive criteria that both companies could use to evaluate applicants. If you think the companies might use different criteria, explain the difference.
b. Name and describe three indications of problematic issues that both companies could use to evaluate candidates. If you think the companies might use different criteria, explain the difference.
c. If you were rejected because of a lack of social data supporting your criteria for item a or because of the presence of social data in the criteria for item b, would you know it?
Q3. Evaluate your own social data in light of your answer to question 2.
a. Describe elements in your social data that support positive criteria.
b. Describe elements in your social data that could indicate problematic issues.
Q4. Ask someone else to evaluate your social data in light of both sets of criteria in question 2. You can ask a friend, but you will likely obtain better information if you pick someone whom you do not know well. Most human resource screening personnel are in their 30s. Try to pick someone in that age group to evaluate your criteria, if you can.
Q5. Choose the most negative social data according to your answers to questions 3 and 4. Suppose you are in a job interview and you are asked about that problematic data. Explain your response.
Q6. Consider the job you would most like to obtain after you graduate. Assume you are the hiring decision maker for that job. Name and describe five indications that would positively influence you toward a job candidate.
Q7. Join LinkedIn if you have not already done so. Build your personal profile in accordance with your answer to question 6.
Your answer must be typed, double-spaced, Times New Roman font (size 12), one-inch margins on all sides, APA format.