Since 75% of HR professionals admit to Googling, Twittering and Facebooking in their quest to find out the dirt on a candidate let’s consider what that really means.
- Who did you really find? There are several Kathryn Carlsons out there working in HR, you are going to have to dig a bit to make sure you really have found me. All the other Kathryns seem very nice by the way but they aren’t me. Plus what you do find on me is nothing I wouldn’t have told you if you asked because I monitor my online profile very, very carefully and I never accept an inviation to any site unless I know I can count on the person to provide truthful information about me. Facebook- nothing there I’m ashamed of and you will have to hack in anyway because I only share my Facebook page with family and very good friends. Want some insight on who I am- the OPUS assessment I took before being hired at KPA provided more information that then any web search. A web search only confirms that I have worked in various area of HR for a number of years, published a bit, write a blog on HR issues, and been quoted in some articles.
- Did your candidate really post that information? I did a Google search yesterday and lo and behold there was a new link with my name – it was me, it was from a article that used some information I had published and it was all good, but I didn’t put it out there. If it hadn’t been good or truthful I would have taken steps to remove it.
- Texts, pictures, and videos may have been manipulated before posting or after posting. Not convinced? Call the Department of Agriculture and let them explain how they fired Shirley Sherrod because of a doctored clip and then they had to apologize and offer her a new job and the President appologized personally and the NAACP apologized and on and on…just because nobody took 10 minutes to research if this was the full text of a speech or a clip used by a blogger for his own purposes.
By the way those Internet searches you are doing in your effort to be a good recruiter/hiring manager? They are bound to reveal information you wish you didn’t have and go to great pains to not collect on an employment application or during the interview… if you really want to know information about race, religion, disability, sexual preference and where they take vacations and what their pet’s name is…go for it… and then explain why that information never factored in the hiring decision when you are sued for discrimination.
Bottom line- If you use the internet to research information consider it part of the background check and do it after you get a release from the applicant. Publish a social media policy so employees understand the ground rules and know that you will be checking up. Stop and think before you use any information you find.
Join the conversation: Have you Googled yourself lately?
Tags: EEOC, HR best practice, hr professionals, insight, recruiting, social media