Survey: 37% Use Social Media to Check Candidates

More than a third of hiring managers and human resources professionals, 37 percent, use social media to look into job candidates, according to a survey by CareerBuilder. Employers primarily used Facebook (65 percent) and LinkedIn (63 percent) to research candidates, while 16 percent used Twitter.

When asked why the use social media to look into candidates’ backgrounds, they said:

• To see if the candidate presents himself/herself professionally, 65 percent.
• To see if the candidate is a good fit for the company culture, 51 percent.
• To learn more about the candidate’s qualifications, 45 percent.
• To see if the candidate is well-rounded, 35 percent.
• To look for reasons not to hire the candidate, 12 percent.

Thirty-four percent of hiring managers and human resources professionals said they found information on social media that caused them not to hire a candidate. That information included:

• Candidate posted provocative/inappropriate photos/info, 49 percent.
• There was info about candidate drinking or using drugs, 45 percent.
• Candidate had poor communication skills, 35 percent.
• Candidate bad mouthed previous employer, 33 percent.
• Candidate made discriminatory comments related to race, gender, religion, etc., 28 percent.
• Candidate lied about qualifications, 22 percent.

The survey included responses from 2,303 hiring managers and human resource professionals.

Filed by Staffing Industry Analysts, a sister company of Workforce Management. To comment, email editors@workforce.com.

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