Social media background checks increase by 500%

CareerBuilder’s annual social media recruitment survey, 60 percent of employers use social networking sites to research job candidates, up significantly from 52 percent last year. This means that over the past decade, social media background checks have increased a massive 500%. Tools such as Facebook and Twitter enable employers to get a glimpse of who candidates are outside the confines of a resume or cover letter,” said Rosemary Haefner, chief human resources officer of CareerBuilder. “And with more and more people using social media, it’s not unusual to see the usage for recruitment to grow as well.” Most hiring managers aren’t intentionally looking for negatives, though. 60 percent of employers who use social networking sites to research job candidates are “looking for information that supports their qualifications for the job”. For some occupations, this could include a professional portfolio (aka – LinkedIn). Fifty-three percent of these hiring managers want to see if the candidate has a professional online persona, 30 percent want to see what other people are posting about the candidate, and 21 percent admit they’re looking for reasons not to hire the candidate. The following are the top pieces of content that turned off these employers:

• Provocative or inappropriate photographs, videos or information – 46 percent
• Information about candidate drinking or using drugs – 43 percent
• Discriminatory comments related to race, religion, gender, etc. – 33 percent
• Candidate bad-mouthed previous company or fellow employee – 31 percent
• Poor communication skills – 29 percent

• Candidate’s background information supported job qualifications – 44 percent
• Candidate’s site conveyed a professional image – 44 percent
• Candidate’s personality came across as a good fit with company culture – 43 percent
• Candidate was well-rounded, showed a wide range of interests – 40 percent
• Candidate had great communication skills – 36 percent