Social media has become an integral part of our lives, influencing everything from personal relationships to professional opportunities. For employers, this kind of screening has emerged as a tool to gain deeper insights into potential hires. However, navigating the complexities of social media screening —understanding what’s allowed, what’s not, and addressing common misconceptions — can be challenging.
This blog post clarifies these aspects and explore the practical applications of social media screening in various job roles.
What’s Social Media Screening?
Before getting into the nitty gritty of how to compliantly conduct social media screening, it’s important to understand what it entails.
The main goal is to gain insights into a candidate that aren’t revealed in the interview process or a standard criminal record check. Depending on the job you’re hiring for, uncovering criminal, violent, racist, intolerant, and/or sexually explicit behaviours through social media screening may help you determine a candidate’s eligibility for the role.
Having said this, it’s important to recognize the role of bias, conscious or unconscious, in social media screening. If your organization’s in-house recruitment specialist already has a “gut feeling” about a particular candidate, that candidate may be out of the running before they’ve even seen something on social media they may deem to be a job risk.
As such, third-party screening services such as those by Certn are always a good idea. The service can provide compliant social media screening that only identifies the most relevant information to the job itself and the safety of employees.
What’s Allowed in Social Media Screening?
There are some considerations to keep in mind before proceeding with a deep dive of a candidate’s activities on social media platforms.
- Job-Relevant Information: Employers are permitted to review publicly available social media information that’s relevant to the job position. For example, a recruiter might check a candidate’s LinkedIn profile to verify their professional experience or review their public Twitter account to gauge their communication style.
- Consistency with Employment Criteria: Social media screening can be used to confirm that a candidate’s online behaviour aligns with the values and expectations of the organization. This is particularly relevant for positions requiring a high level of public interaction or representation.
- Compliance with Anti-Discrimination Laws: Employers must ensure that their screening practices don’t lead to discriminatory outcomes. Screening should focus on job-related criteria and not on protected characteristics such as race, gender, religion, or sexual orientation.
What’s Not Allowed in Social Media Screening?
- Accessing Private Accounts: Employers cannot access private or restricted social media accounts without the candidate’s permission. This includes accounts that require a connection request or password-protected content.
- Discriminatory Practices: Screening can’t be used to make hiring decisions based on protected characteristics. For instance, reviewing a candidate’s social media presence to infer their religion or political views and using that information to make hiring decisions is prohibited.
- Overstepping Privacy Boundaries: Employers should avoid excessive or intrusive scrutiny of candidates’ social media activities. Screening should be limited to job-relevant information and should respect candidates’ privacy.
Common Misconceptions About Social Media Screening
- “It’s Like Reading a Resume”: Social media screening isn’t a replacement for traditional resume verification. While social media can provide additional context, it should complement rather than replace other verification methods.
- “All Information is Fair Game”: Not all information found on social media is appropriate for use in hiring decisions. Employers should be cautious about how they interpret and use information, ensuring it is relevant and compliant with legal standards.
- “It’s Always Accurate”: Social media profiles can be misleading or incomplete. Relying solely on social media screening without considering other background checks can lead to inaccurate assessments.
- “It’s a Free-for-All”: Employers must adhere to legal guidelines and company policies when conducting social media screening. There are boundaries to what can be reviewed and how it can be used.
Where Social Media Screening is Useful
- Customer-Facing Roles: For positions involving direct interaction with customers or the public, such as customer service representatives or brand ambassadors, social media screening can help assess a candidate’s communication skills and professional demeanor.
- Public Relations and Marketing Positions: Social media screening is valuable for roles that require a strong online presence or expertise in digital communication. Reviewing a candidate’s social media activities can provide insights into their understanding of digital marketing strategies and brand representation.
- High-Profile or Sensitive Positions: For roles involving high levels of confidentiality or public scrutiny, such as executives or security personnel, social media screening can help identify potential risks and ensure candidates align with the organization’s values.
- Creative and Media Roles: In fields like journalism, design, or content creation, social media can showcase a candidate’s creativity and work style, offering a glimpse into their portfolio and professional interests.
Social Media Screening Best Practices
In order to avoid potential legal issues, recruiters need to conduct social media screening ethically and in accordance with hiring regulations. It isn’t as simple as logging onto to Twitter to dig up dirt at random. No, that’s not part of a compliant process. Instead, there have to be well-established social media screening practices in place to legally determine whether the candidate is suitable for a particular role.
Establish Consistent Social Media Screening Policies
When it comes to any type of recruitment strategy, social media screening included, consistency is always key.
Every recruitment process should lay out, in clear terms, how information is being collected and documented, how it complies with the employment laws of that state, province, and/or country, and what individuals have access and decision-making authority based on the information.
Accurate record keeping is also crucial to this process. If someone decides to pursue legal action, you need to prove that your decision not to hire them was job-related only.
How to Use Information Uncovered in Social Media Screening
Once you’ve legally and compliantly accessed information to a candidate’s social media profile (which much be public information by the way), you have to know what you’re going to do with it.
If you’re in the social media screening process, the information has to be related to the job. As a recruitment specialist, if you’re looking at irrelevant hiring factors such as race, religion, sexual orientation, or political affiliation, that can derail your entire recruitment process and open you up to a legal discrimination case.
Compliant Social Media Screening
Social media screening, when conducted responsibly and within legal boundaries, can be a valuable tool for employers seeking to gain additional insights into potential hires. By understanding what’s allowed and what’s not, addressing common misconceptions, and applying social media screening to relevant job roles, organizations can make more informed hiring decisions while respecting candidates’ privacy.
Let us handle the screening process for you and give you all the job-related information you need to make your next great hire. Visit this web page on our social media screening services to find out how we can help perfect your hiring practices!
