Tips for Using Social Media in the Hiring Process

Should Facebook pages and LinkedIn profiles replace resumes when it comes to the hiring new employees? A majority of employers and recruiters already openly admit they check an applicant’s digital footprint as part of their vetting process. 

Yet many social media users, especially members of Gen Y, feel that they have an unfettered right to put whatever they want on the Web and not have it be held against them. The two points of view raise an interesting question about what kinds of social media information is fair game and how it can be used.

What Can Be Used?

Publicly available information is exactly that, it’s public.  It’s out there for everyone to see.  Such information should not, however, be confused with public websites that have a password-protection component.  Passwords and security levels create an expectation of privacy that must be respected. 

So as tempting as it might be to “friend” someone to gain access to their inner circle, if it is done under false pretenses you could have a problem. It may be an invasion of privacy. 

How Can You Use It?

Social media is a great source of information about prospective applicants.  But the downside of doing a deep dive is that you’ll discover too much information. 

At first blush that might sound like a good thing. An ultrasound picture posted on Facebook, for example, lets you know the person is pregnant and lets you estimate the due date.

Will that newborn interfere with a project deadline the new hire is expected to meet?  Maybe.  But disqualifying someone because they’re pregnant is illegal. It’s discriminatory. 

That’s the problem with a deep dive.  You’ll discover information that speaks to whether the individual is in a protected class, things like age, gender, race, religious affiliation, and so forth.

Be Objective and Build a Firewall

To sidestep discrimination or bias claims in the hiring process it is always helpful to start with an objective list of criteria required of the successful applicant. Will the job require heavy lifting? OK, then the ability to lift x pounds is the way the job requirement should be written.  To assume that only young men can do heavy lifting and automatically disqualify women or older men from applying sets you up for failure. 

Your criteria establish what the universe of relevant information for the job search will look like. Everything else is immaterial -- and potentially dangerous.

To make sure those landmines don’t become part of the decision making process it is wise to create a firewall.  This means having someone other than the hiring manager conduct the online search and filter out the irrelevant information.

To put even more distance between the hiring manager and the “protected information” you might consider having an outside vendor conduct the online research and filtering process for you. That way the information never gets inside your office. Limiting online searches to a short list of top candidates is also a useful way of limiting your overall risk exposure.

Social media is a valuable resource that can enhance the recruiting process.  Smart job candidates know that the Internet is forever and manage their online reputations accordingly.  Smart hiring managers, however, know that social media can often lead to too much information and that the indiscriminate use of such data can turn into legal quicksand without the proper precautions.

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Hanna Hasl-Kelchner is a business legal strategist, author, speaker and trainer who teaches and coaches business people on how to avoid lawsuits.  She is the author of The Business Guide to Legal Literacy: What Every Manager Should Know About the Law and forthcoming How to Turn Your Business into a Litigator’s Chew Toy: Taking the Bite Out of Legal Liability.  Follow Hanna on Twitter @nononsenselawyr and her Chew Toy sidekick @acelitigatorwit.  Subscribe to this blog’s RSS feed to get the latest updates.