Does your company use social media as part of your hiring process? It is estimated that over 90% of employers use social media to find suitable candidates for their openings. A survey of 1,000 U.S. Based employers across a variety of industries released by Jobvite showed that 92% of employers use or are planning to use social networks as a method of recruiting. Hiring managers and human resources departments actively use social media to seek out candidates to fill job openings within their own companies.
The same study cited above also stated the almost 75% of hiring managers check candidates’ social profiles. Last month, I attended a conference where I listened to speaker talk about the perils of social media for managers.
Is your company using social media in the hiring process? Are the managers in your company “friends” or “followers” of their subordinates’ social media accounts?
When an employer uses social media to help make hiring decisions, the person tasked with researching the candidate via social networks should never be the same person making the hiring decision. The researcher must have a policy in place and know what information, like age, race, religion, sexual orientation, she or he should not pass on to the decision maker in order to keep hiring practices compliant with the law.
The federal Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) prohibits age-based discrimination against workers over 40 through hiring, firing, layoffs, compensation and other conditions of employment. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII) prohibits workplace discrimination based on religion, national origin, race, color, or sex.