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Facebook and Hiring

russtopher said:
When I was hiring I didn't look up on FB or Twitter until after the 1st interview. I scheduled those based on resume and experience. I didn't want to look at anything that might color my view of them.

Honestly, seeing someone liking crappy music would've probably had more of an effect on me than pics of them with joints ;)


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LOL!

Ya im in a different boat. I prefer to interview folks without having the thought they they are 50/50 to pass a screening based on their online profiles. Saves everyone time IMO.
 
Ottawaclo said:
LOL!

Ya im in a different boat. I prefer to interview folks without having the thought they they are 50/50 to pass a screening based on their online profiles. Saves everyone time IMO.
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To be fair, we didn't drug screen at my last company, but I was hiring for commercial B2B sales positions. Nothing that involved machinery or anything of that sort.


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Honestly, if I were to go have to start searching for a new job ... I'd inactivate all of my social media. I guess not having a social media presence might raise some flags in and of itself, but at least there would be no dirt to dig up.
 
Social media is becoming a component to filtering candidates. I see no wrong with it
 
If you you were not looking at Facebook you would be making your job harder. That is what happens when you put your personal life on the internet.
 
deuce said:
So potential employers could assume that you'll take too long lunches, call in sick to golf, and use all of your vacation time to travel. NO HIRE! :p
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Haha unless its a traveling/food/golf company?

Ottawaclo said:
Ya I already nixed Alex from all future employment with our company lol!!

Just nixed another potential hire as on their facebook page he had a picture of himself blowing smoke into his dogs face....i mean ....really?
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Damn guess i won't be sending my resume in



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I think you have to look at it. It is available and it is a good measure into what type of person you are dealing with. You have a responsibility to your company and coworkers to do your job and in this age it most assuredly includes research on the internet of prospective employees. No one is forcing them to put that information out there just like no one is forcing them to do drugs, so it is there issue not yours.

I try to manage my social media accounts to limit things that could be inflammatory (I post some dumb jokes occ, but if an employer has issue with that, I doubt I would want to work there anyway).

When I coached High school baseball another coach (younger than me) was dating a girl 3 years younger than him (he was 24, she was 21) and he had a party at his house. She brought over some friends and that included 3 girls that were 19-20... they all took pictures and put it on their facebook page and he was in several of them.... He showed me the photos and I told him he needed to get those down ASAP as he was also a high school teacher... it was a small town (13k people) and there were quite a few people that would be able to figure out that he was drinking with underage people... not ideal for a teacher/coach.
 
mancest said:
I think you have to look at it. It is available and it is a good measure into what type of person you are dealing with. You have a responsibility to your company and coworkers to do your job and in this age it most assuredly includes research on the internet of prospective employees. No one is forcing them to put that information out there just like no one is forcing them to do drugs, so it is there issue not yours.

I try to manage my social media accounts to limit things that could be inflammatory (I post some dumb jokes occ, but if an employer has issue with that, I doubt I would want to work there anyway).

When I coached High school baseball another coach (younger than me) was dating a girl 3 years younger than him (he was 24, she was 21) and he had a party at his house. She brought over some friends and that included 3 girls that were 19-20... they all took pictures and put it on their facebook page and he was in several of them.... He showed me the photos and I told him he needed to get those down ASAP as he was also a high school teacher... it was a small town (13k people) and there were quite a few people that would be able to figure out that he was drinking with underage people... not ideal for a teacher/coach.
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Funny aside, I still cannot and won't buy alcohol in town at any time because of the possibility of seeing students. Coaching and teaching is constantly CYA, even outside of work.
 
mancest said:
I think you have to look at it. It is available and it is a good measure into what type of person you are dealing with. You have a responsibility to your company and coworkers to do your job and in this age it most assuredly includes research on the internet of prospective employees. No one is forcing them to put that information out there just like no one is forcing them to do drugs, so it is there issue not yours.

I try to manage my social media accounts to limit things that could be inflammatory (I post some dumb jokes occ, but if an employer has issue with that, I doubt I would want to work there anyway).

When I coached High school baseball another coach (younger than me) was dating a girl 3 years younger than him (he was 24, she was 21) and he had a party at his house. She brought over some friends and that included 3 girls that were 19-20... they all took pictures and put it on their facebook page and he was in several of them.... He showed me the photos and I told him he needed to get those down ASAP as he was also a high school teacher... it was a small town (13k people) and there were quite a few people that would be able to figure out that he was drinking with underage people... not ideal for a teacher/coach.
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Thanks ....and I agree that if you gamble on someone even after seeing some shady stuff on FB you are opening yourself up for not only a potential issue with their hiring process....but the word around town being that your business will look past some issues.

My town is about 18k and the "Can game" is what I like to call it...as I can tell someone the sky is blue today and by the time it gets to the other side of town the sky is pink.....runs rampant at times
 
Jman said:
Funny aside, I still cannot and won't buy alcohol in town at any time because of the possibility of seeing students. Coaching and teaching is constantly CYA, even outside of work.
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While I totally get this, do you also avoid going to bars and or having a drink at a restaurant with friends and family? I do get the CYA thing but at the same time, but honestly where do you draw the line? This is not intended for you, just more of a general question.
 
fistfullofbeer said:
While I totally get this, do you also avoid going to bars and or having a drink at a restaurant with friends and family? I do get the CYA thing but at the same time, but honestly where do you draw the line? This is not intended for you, just more of a general question.
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Yep, I do. In town I won't go to a bar nor will I order a drink anywhere.

Its the way I was taught coming up in the coaching ranks, and more than that, living in the buckle of the Bible Belt, its a legitimately big deal. I don't agree with or like it, but its just the way it is.
 
Jman said:
Yep, I do. In town I won't go to a bar nor will I order a drink anywhere.

Its the way I was taught coming up in the coaching ranks, and more than that, living in the buckle of the Bible Belt, its a legitimately big deal. I don't agree with or like it, but its just the way it is.
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Makes sense and I agree.

No matter whether we like it or not, the society we live in does dictate a lot of how we lead our life. I think in the end, like most things, it comes down to us choosing to make a compromise and conform to something we may not agree with because it is honestly not that big of a deal to us OR making our life more complicated by being a 'rebel'.

In the end, if things are too big of a deal, I would personally do what you are doing. Or, just move out of the area (if that was a real option).
 
Although it may be very convenient to scan someone's FB page, it can become a liability if you're not careful and choose not to interview or hire someone because of it.

Someone who is 100% qualified to do the job and is not given a chance because they post stupid stuff on FB can bite you in the butt. They don't represent you as an employee yet, and if they claim to do drugs on their page, and your company has a way to weed them out (no pun intended) via a hair test, how can you justify to this person not giving them the opportunity? Especially if they ask. Which they will if they are smart.

Meet them and test them. If you have clear restrictions on what they can say on social media, this is something they should be made aware of once they are hired because then, they represent you as your employee. Until then, you *could* be losing out on a valuable employee.

EDIT: Seems I am mistaken about how this works now. Apologies. [One other thing. FB allows you do see who looks at your page as well. They can tell you looked. Even more reason to be careful as an employer.]
 
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NewGlfr said:
Although it may be very convenient to scan someone's FB page, it can become a liability if you're not careful and choose not to interview or hire someone because of it.

Someone who is 100% qualified to do the job and is not given a chance because they post stupid stuff on FB can bite you in the butt. They don't represent you as an employee yet, and if they claim to do drugs on their page, and your company has a way to weed them out (no pun intended) via a hair test, how can you justify to this person not giving them the opportunity? Especially if they ask. Which they will if they are smart.

Meet them and test them. If you have clear restrictions on what they can say on social media, this is something they should be made aware of once they are hired because then, they represent you as your employee. Until then, you *could* be losing out on a valuable employee.

One other thing. FB allows you do see who looks at your page as well. They can tell you looked. Even more reason to be careful as an employer.
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I talked to my head HR person regarding looking at facebook and they signed off on it being only used if pictures exist of blatant drug use or criminal activity.

If they have that on their profiles then by all means I am ok with them knowing that I seen it and it cost them a chance at employment.
 
Ottawaclo said:
I talked to my head HR person regarding looking at facebook and they signed off on it being only used if pictures exist of blatant drug use or criminal activity.

If they have that on their profiles then by all means I am ok with them knowing that I seen it and it cost them a chance at employment.
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Fair enough.
 
NewGlfr said:
One other thing. FB allows you do see who looks at your page as well. They can tell you looked. Even more reason to be careful as an employer.
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No they don't.
 
Coming at this from an HR perspective (my day job), over 84% of companies in a recent survey use social media review as part of the screening process (although it didn't specify the types of roles they were sourcing for in this survey, ex. Tech jobs). Most legal guidance (including the EEOC) suggest that there is no problem with a potential employer viewing candidates public social media profiles as long as it does not lead to discriminatory practices (which it doesn't sound like you are doing here as they are usually concerned with protected classes).

Two things to think about: Does the state in which the person lives or performs the duties of the role have legalized marijuana laws on the books? If so, and someone finds out that you didn't interview them solely on the basis of them being perceived to use that particular drug on social media, you could be exposed to some risk of a lawsuit. Second, most companies job descriptions are broad enough to apply to many people, but also written in a way that you can find areas that literally ANYONE can be found to not be the best fit for the role. So, make sure that you don't document in your applicant tracking system that you declined them for what you saw on social media, and some other reason related to the requirements of the role and you should be fine!

Good luck!
 
NewGlfr said:
There are multiple add ons out there that allow you to see who has viewed your page. They are not FB owned so my apologies if what I said was misleading.

https://www.dreamytricks.net/who-viewed-my-facebook-profile/
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And if you read the content in the link it states the browser hack only applies to people on you are friends with and have chatted with. The "Add-On" you are referring to only tracks other people using the same Add-On.
 
fupresti said:
And if you read the content in the link it states the browser hack only applies to people on you are friends with and have chatted with. The "Add-On" you are referring to only tracks other people using the same Add-On.
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I have used these in the past when I had an internet stalker trying to destroy my career. He was not a "friend" and I didn't ever speak to him. Seemed to work for what I needed at the time. Maybe things have changed since I used it two years ago. My bad.

Edited my initial post about this. Apologies.
 
Social media accounts is the third or fourth question that comes up in our interviews. It also comes up when you are seeking a high level clearance (during the interview). You can find out a lot about a person through social media.
 
Fingerz said:
Social media accounts is the third or fourth question that comes up in our interviews. It also comes up when you are seeking a high level clearance (during the interview). You can find out a lot about a person through social media.
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Which i am finding out this week as I go thru all these applicants. First time I have had to cold interview folks in a couple years....been lucky with my staffing so far as a manager.
 
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