It’s a given that most employers will check the social media profile of every potential new hire. Most job seekers know this and will take what they feel is the appropriate action to remove potentially offensive material. According to a recent article by Valerie Bolden-Barrett appearing on the HR Dive website, some candidates will even go as far as removing their personal profiles entirely from the most popular social media websites.
Employer screening service provider, JDP recently released a report indicating that 60% of employers do check a job candidate’s social media presence and look for potential problems such as hate speech and other negative behaviors. Of the 2007 workers surveyed, 84% of workers are aware that social media presence can significantly influence employers in terms of their hireability. An estimated 50% of job candidates who responded indicated that they have deleted posts and removed profiles from Facebook.
It is interesting to note that 14% of the job seekers who participated in the JDP survey indicated that they found either their current or a past position through the use of social media. Last year, HR Dive’s Kathryn Moody advised that employers should be doing due diligence when it comes to social media, but should have a third party within their organization who will not be making the final hiring decision to perform social media screening of candidates.