Today social media is proof of many aspects of an employee’s personality. Some employees use social media as a portfolio for their work, while others leverage it for harmful purposes.
Employees often hesitate to proceed with social media screening as it is perceived as a breach of privacy. On the other hand, employers strongly feel that social media background check can prevent hiring employees who have dubious attitudes.
To make it easier for both employers and employees, organizations should mention that they conduct social media screening. They even should lay down a social media screening policy.
Employers must establish a balance between organizational needs and potential employees’ privacy, as this might ruin the company’s reputation and deter new talent from joining the company.
Many hiring consultants suggest that only professional social media networks and public forums like Twitter can be screened during the social media verification process of the employees. Before moving on with the screening procedure, organizations must obtain the consent of the potential employee in writing.
Benefits of social media screening of potential employees
1) Proof of misconduct
The employee’s work ethic might be up to the mark. But their attitude towards female employees and leaders in the organization can be understood by their social media. Often employees post misogynistic comments and articles that can hurt the sentiments of women employees. They can also be called out for posting lewd and sexist comments on their colleagues’ profiles. Social media screenings help organizations filter out employees who have evidence of misconduct in their profiles.
2) Plagiarism
Employers can also detect if the potential employee has plagiarized their work portfolio and resume from another person’s profile with an advanced screening process. Plagiarism of work portfolios is a big red flag that employers need to know during hiring.
3) Non-alignment with the organizational ideology
Many times, potential employees take up a job for monetary requirements. They post content on social media that goes against the organizational ideology and even puts the reputation at stake. Social media screening for employment helps employers assess if the candidate truly aligns with corporate culture and mindset.
4) Assessing expertise and skills
These days, employees’ social media is their proof of skill set. They will be sharing content on their social media profiles that prove that they have knowledge and skillset about their career domain. Social media screening can be a covert way to see how updated an employee is about the subject and the career role.
5) Verifying the references
Social media channels like LinkedIn have made it easier for employers to verify the contacts of the references provided during the background check. Sometimes the details can be fraudulent. Therefore, through social media screening, employers can connect with the referee directly via social media. The referees often put a recommendation on the candidate’s LinkedIn profile. These insights help employers to understand the character of the employee they are about to hire.
Conducting social media screening for potential employees can be quite a hassle. Therefore, Secure Check 360 provides accurate social media background check services for potential employees with alignment to the screening policy set by employers in compliance with state and federal laws.
For more information on screening, please visit: www.securecheck360.com
Or mail us at [email protected]
