SmallBizResource Blog -- Internet

How Social Networks Can Stop You From Making A Bad Hire

Posted by Gayle Kesten Friday, Sep 12, 2008, 02:57 PM ET

A relatively new acquaintance of mine contacted me on a social network. When I went to her profile page, she had posted a picture of her husband, only the caption said, "My fiancé." And it was dated after their son was born.

Juicy!

The novelty of the discovery passed faster than it took me to remember the name of the band that sang that song, and it certainly wasn't a factor that would ever in the slightest prevent me from pursuing her friendship. But could that tidbit bear any implications should a potential employer conduct an online background check?

According to a nationwide survey from CareerBuilder.com, 22 percent of 3,100-plus employer respondents said they check social networking sites, like Facebook and MySpace, to do a little digging about job candidates -- up from 11 percent who reported doing so two years ago. More than one-third of those hiring managers and HR pros reported finding content about prospective employees that caused them to drop them from the candidate pool. The most damaging info included information about drinking or using drugs, provocative or inappropriate photos/information, evidence of poor communication skills, and bad-mouthing former employees or co-workers.

A Reader's Digest article I read and digested while on vacation echoed similar findings from the Ponemon Institute. The researcher learned that 61 percent of employers are running online background checks, starting with simple Google searches. One employer was ready to make an offer until he read about his No. 1 choice's No. 1 interest ("smoking blunts with the homies"). Others were passed over for posting about their religious sentiments and Vegas winnings.

Philip Gordon, chair of Littler Mendelson’s Privacy & Data Protection Practice Group, also raises a good point about Twitter: "How will the company react when an employee twitters that she is 'organizing a union' or 'complaining to her buddies about all that overtime'? How does a business respond to a twitter record that, in fact, does show that an employee seems always to be doing something other than work during working hours? Twitter actually is quite good for identifying slackers because each twitter post includes the date and time of posting."

Which means as an employer, you can see what your possible hire has tweeted before ever stepping foot into your office. "Forcing myself to go on this interview," which is what I would have written on my very first post-college interview had Twitter been around in those days, wouldn't have gone over very well. (Not to mention the sales job I was going for but knew I didn't want led me to the editor position that had just opened up and was the one I happily accepted.)

If you're the one doing the hiring, then clearly it pays to play online detective. If you're the one in the job market, then the following five tips from the Associated Press will serve you well:

1. Keep public pages as career-focused as possible. Occasional banter is fine. But think before you post.

2. Choose "friends" wisely, and ask for their cooperation. Your posts may be pristine, but that doesn't keep friends from adding embarrassing comments or linking you to provocative content.

3. Think about how much time you spend signed on. If posts are time-stamped, it's easy for people to calculate your time online.

4. Think about the details. Adding extras and "status updates" to your page can be fun. But think about how they'll be received.

5. Stay on top of your accounts. There's no need to check hourly, but be aware that something embarrassing can have long-term impact.

Internet