Why Hiring Managers Shouldn’t Conduct Their Own Social Media Checks
During the hiring process, many organizations use background checks to vet their potential candidates. Conducted by third-party experts, background checks take a closer look at the candidates’ history based on specific criteria outlined by the employers. Typically, background checks verify a candidate’s education, employment history, driving record, and/or credit history. Sometimes these checks may reveal a candidate’s criminal history. These checks safeguard companies before they extend a job offer.
While traditional background checks are a cornerstone of many hiring decisions, some companies are adding another layer to this screening process: social media background checks. Similar to traditional background checks, these social media screenings put a candidate’s online presence under the microscope. During this process, a potential hire’s activity on popular social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube is reviewed. Why? To determine if the candidate has demonstrated any signs of violent, racist, sexist, and/or sexually explicit behavior on social media.
Should employers use social media to screen job applicants? Being aware of a candidate’s inappropriate and/or possibly illegal conduct on social media may protect companies from potential harm. It can also help ensure that only the most appropriate candidates are considered for employment. Although this new screening process may protect the organization and its employees from possible harmful behavior, it can also become a risk to the company if it’s not performed properly.
Many hiring managers may be compelled to conduct their own social media background checks but doing so could result in a variety of negative consequences. Below, we’ll outline the reasons why social media screenings would be better left to third-party professionals.
1. Inconsistent or Ineffective Processes
Companies that choose to perform internal social media screenings often do so without a clear procedure. They do not define specific criteria or officially appoint someone to the role. In many of these cases, this can lead to harmful online behavior being overlooked. Or, a candidate’s fate could fall victim to hiring manager subjectivity: one person could view a candidate’s online behavior as dangerous and/or offensive, while another may dismiss those same actions displayed on a different candidate’s social media accounts.
2. Poor Time Management
Many organizations deal with time management and efficiency issues when trying to conduct social media checks internally. Without a well-defined screening process, it is typically more difficult to perform, leading to too much time being spent on this part of the hiring process while other areas are neglected. In the end, the hiring team may spend a lot of time on the process without effectively disqualifying candidates or identifying qualified candidates.
3. Potential Lawsuits
Much like traditional criminal background checks, social media background checks must comply with both state and federal regulations regarding the disclosure of information. Professional third-party social media screening agencies are not only knowledgeable in all the various state and federal data privacy laws, they’re also well-versed with the terms and conditions outlined by the specific social media platforms.
Hiring managers who are not familiar with the specific laws, regulations, and terms and conditions related to social media screening could potentially make themselves and their employer susceptible to lawsuits. For example, a candidate could file suit for privacy violations and/or perceived bias, or the social media service provider could sue for breach of their user terms. Also, the company would be at risk for possible penalties due to data privacy violations.
Social media background checks may soon be a necessary part of the hiring process. However, it’s clear that the screening process would be performed most efficiently and effectively by third-party professionals.
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