Social Media to Transform The Hiring Process in Businesses

Social media has its perks when it comes to marketing your company or connecting with your loved ones. Businesses have used social media platforms to reach out to their target audience. Likewise, candidates have used social media platforms to make it look more authentic, sensible, and professional.

As the world is slowly healing from the pandemic’s effects, the grad students and potential employees have used the lock-down time to upgrade their social media profiles. They have put in their efforts to foster their presentation skills and resumes to seek employment opportunities. However, the question is that are resumes enough to attract the employers to make a hiring decision?

The answer will startle you. In the present times, when everything gets digitized, polished resumes may not be enough to make an impression when there are a bunch of other candidates to compete with you. Especially today, in the social distancing era, many recruiters find social media platforms more engaging due to the real-time information available to test the applicants’ authenticity.

Social media platforms such as LinkedIn are used by potential employers to examine the genuineness and qualifications of the applicants. Employers find it convenient to assess their professionalism and check their reviews and feed through such platforms. According to research, 70% of hiring managers use social media platforms to scan the applicants during the hiring process. Moreover, 43% of employers use these platforms to look upon their existing employees.

Presence on Social Media is Important.

Study says that 47% of potential employees are less likely to appoint candidates for an interview, if they fail to have an online presence. For 30% of American adults who are still looking for jobs, this might be the case. According to Sergei Lemberg, managing partner at Lemberg Law, potential employers do screen candidates on the digital platforms. That is fine, as long as they do not make any hiring decisions based on race, gender, disability, national origin, religion, and other such grounds.

Recruiters check on Social Media.

Moreover, the recruiters do not make the decisions merely by looking at the qualifications in the resume or aptitude tests; they examine the applicants’ social media platforms to have an in-depth understanding of their personal and professional lives. Their character and background are also significant factors while making a hiring decision apart from the qualifications alone. For instance, if you hire a candidate only to find out, he is not a good fit for a team player. However, looking at his/her Facebook or LinkedIn profile, a judgment can be made that the candidate has a vast number of friends, or has different friends from different nationalities. So, now you know that the applicant is not a racist person and is quite friendly as well. He is posting some voluntary work images on his profile, which displays his/her good character.

The best thing is that social media platforms enable employers to know the applicants’ private information as well, which could not have been possible on the documents or interviews.

Always remember to audit your social media platforms before you apply for any job. Candidates must presume that the potential employers will monitor their social media platforms to assess them. Also, some recruiters are more likely to check the LinkedIn profile. Most employers look upon the LinkedIn profile as a secondary resume.

Another essential thing to know is that it could be a bad idea to delete your entire profile, thinking that something is embarrassing or harmful for their image; that technique can backfire. Some employers will view it as a reticent move and think twice before approaching the candidate. The best practice is to have your social media pages look decent.

How can you benefit from Social Media?

Despite what the applicants may figure, most recruiters aren’t scrolling the internet looking for the motive not to hire them. Most hiring managers are looking for incentives to employ someone.

As per the CareerBuilder study, 58% of recruiters run the social screening to search for the data supporting the applicant’s qualifications for the job, half want to make sure the applicant has a professional image online, and 34% want to review others’ feedback for the applicant. As per the records, only 24% of them look for the motives not to employ someone through social platforms.

Having an online presence has been a blessing for many job hunters. Notably, 37% of recruiters stated that they discovered data supporting the applicant’s professional qualifications, and 33% were dazzled with the candidate’s professional persona. Rest 34% of them thought the applicants showed phenomenal creativity.

What can be done in the privacy context?

It’s totally legal for recruiters to look upon the public social media accounts, but checking anything further than open accounts is against the rules.

According to Matt Erhard, a senior partner at Summit Search Group, a few employers ask for social media credentials from the candidates. At many places, it is not illegal, but he views this as an invasion of privacy.

The candidates need to be cautious if their potential employers ask them for their credentials. In fact, the applicants must consider pulling out their application.

If you have a separate professional account, consider keeping your personal account private. Some job hunters have separate social media accounts for work purposes and personal life. They only work accounts with their clients or employers. Their private accounts are locked and only viewed by people they want.

Checking up on the social media profile.

Once hired, professionals should let it loose, but make sure their social media presence is up to the mark. As per the research, 48% of employers use social media sites to check upon their existing employees. And 34% of staff were warned or fired, due to the content they posted.

Hence, it is significant to maintain an exceptional online presence no matter what. You can also use the opportunity positively and display a positive image of the company where you work. This will create a good impression for your employers.

Conclusion:

Social media has changed in ways we connect with people. It has also revolutionized our professional lives. Businesses and professionals will continue to use social media as a tool to hire more and more candidates. With more awareness worldwide, the use of social media platforms for making hiring decisions will continually rise.

Author Bio:

Harnil Oza is CEO of Hyperlink InfoSystem, one of the leading app development companies in New York and India, having a team of the best app developers who deliver the best mobile solutions mainly on Android and iOS platforms. He regularly contributes his knowledge on leading blogging sites like top app development companies.

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