Should Social Media be a determining factor for an employer in hiring new employees?

2015-10-27T19:39:43-04:00

This come from a posting that a Employment Agency worker I know put in an Employment Network on Facebook. He said, "Please keep in mind that many employers look you up on Facebook! Scroll through your wall/photos and ask yourself if you would hire you based on what you see. Your resume is much more than a single document. It's how you present yourself at all times." It turned into a pretty controversial topic, and just thought I'd bring it here to get a more professional discussion on it.

Response by SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL made Oct 27 at 2015 7:43 PM

2015-10-27T19:43:42-04:00

1LT Ryan Millican Social Media should not be a determine factor in your employment, however, a lot of employers are using this tactics to filter good quality employers. If I was the HR, I would base it on credentials on your resume. 'Bottom line keep your profile clean and tasteful".

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 27 at 2015 7:48 PM

2015-10-27T19:48:13-04:00

For certain job types I believe it is crucial to know how a prospective employee presents him or herself at all times in the public eye. Think about us as soldiers. Most people around us know we are soldiers. If we got out and got drunk and beat the crap out of someone, it would look bad, or if we took photos of cop cars saying F the police, it would look bad. If vets keep losing their physical cool on stolen valor, that continues to make us look bad. But....

All Jobs, its not necessary. There is a big difference in hiring someone in production line type work and hiring CFO of a company, or a store manager of a Fortune 500 retail business.

If I was hiring a store manager, I'd want them to make my store look good, not misrepresent my values and hard work ethics. However, if I was hiring someone to put the door panels on cars as they go by, I wouldnt be too worried about it.

I guess I consider it "vesting" for jobs that require some skill or experience.

Just my thoughts..

Response by SFC Ron Chelsy made Oct 27 at 2015 11:23 PM

2015-10-27T23:23:09-04:00

I understand why they look people up on social media trying to get a better understanding of their personality. I believe everyone has two sides they present, for instance when they go to an interview, they try to present themselves in a professional manner and have the resemue to back that up, and the other side they have the more leisure side to them. Now a business has the ability to measure prospective employees on that more leisure side. I can only hope that if they use the social media, they are able to measure the balance between the two sides of their prospect accurately. We all know that sometimes we need to "vent" and in today's society people turn to social media to do just that, mostly because the crowd they are with on there usually are supportive of their friends. Having said this, I don't necessarily agree with companies using social media, but I can understand it.

Response by SSG Michael Hathaway made Oct 28 at 2015 1:18 AM

2015-10-28T01:18:48-04:00

I don't think it should be a determining factor, but it can be a factor particularly in fields that would require public appearance. For example, when I was a producer, I could have fun at E3 but I had to make sure that I kept it somewhat professional by not getting falling down drunk at the after-parties. You never know what potential business partner would be there or media personnel. Even off hours, you may still be seen as a representative of the company.