Are You Using Social Media to Screen Applicants?



Posted: Thursday, December 03, 2009

by Crystal O'Brien
MMC Inc.

Online searches on sites like Google, Yahoo, and social networks like Twitter, Linked-In, Friendster and Facebook can provide employers with a greater ability to screen applicants than ever before. This is primarily because the world-wide web is unregulated, and some users demonstrate amazingly poor judgment with posting personal information online. In fact, professional recruiters encourage employers to conduct pre-screening of qualified applicants online, prior to conducting in-person interviews to vet (to appraise, verify, or check for accuracy, authenticity, validity, etc.) for whether prospective candidates will adapt to a particular workplace culture. While four out of five employers, on the average, conduct searches such as these (according to the National Society of Human Resource Management), often times employers will seek advice as to whether searches of this nature are legal. The rule of thumb is simple: if the information obtained from an online search could have been discovered by any online user and the employer is not using the information learned to further an unlawful purpose, such as avoiding interviewing older workers, then using the internet to vet prospective employees is "fair game." Additionally, if the online search exceeds the scope of performing initial vetting, and includes the use of information obtained through a candidate's completion of an application, then obtaining written consent from the candidate and disclosing rights to deny consent and pursuant to the Fair Credit Reporting Act is a must.

To learn more about how to perform searches and to find out if your practice of vetting prospective candidates is legal, feel free to contact us at (800) 899-MMCI (6624). You are encouraged to also click on the following article by Steve Taylor appeared in the Staff Management Magazine Vol.2, No.3 Issue: Staffing Management MagazineStaffing Management: Seeking Secrets in Cyberspace.

 

Crystal M. O'Brien, Esq. serves as MMC's Employment Law Manager/Corporate Counsel. After receiving a double-degree in psychology and sociology from Oberlin College in 1988, Ms. O'Brien earned a workers' compensation insurance claims adjusting license in 1991. She completed post-graduate studies in Human Resources Management at Portland State University's Graduate School of Urban & Public Affairs from 1996-1998 and earned a Juris Doctorate and Certificate in Dispute Resolution from Willamette University College of Law in 2001. Immediately following law school, Ms. O'Brien served as a judicial clerk to the Honorable Faith Ireland (ret.) of the Washington State Supreme Court. She is licensed to practice law in California Washington as well as before U.S. District Courts in each state. Collectively, Ms. O'Brien has 19 years of litigation experience.

To view her complete bio click here.

www.MMChr.com

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