Social Networking Cites Used For Background Checks

Social networking sites are some of the most popular online sites. Besides more and more high school and college students using these websites, many employers are beginning to use Facebook and MySpace as forms of checking backgrounds of potential employees. These networking sites can be used to find information about employees, or potential employees, which may affect hiring, firing, promotion, or other business related activities.

According to a survey done by the Ponemon Institute, 35 percent of hiring managers use the internet when performing background checks on job candidates, 23 percent on social networking sites. About one-third of these web searches lead to rejections. There was another survey done in the United Kingdom that polled over 950 business managers. This survey showed that almost a third of these people check social networking sites when looking for potential clients as well as to get information on existing employees. Out of those managers, about a quarter of them say what they have found has actually affected whether or not they decide to hire somebody. Drunken photos and rude comments that are posted by a person are the biggest causes for why a person may not be hired based on the social networking sites. Out of the people who previously said they did not use social networking sites as means for background checks, almost half of them said they would probably check their employees and potential employees this way in the future.

There was a case in which a woman’s Facebook page affected her as a job candidate. A man by the name of Van Allen, part of a company that helps find employees came for hospitals and clinics was planning on hiring a well-qualified, young, female psychiatrist. Though, her Facebook page made Allen think again about his decision to hire her. On this page, there were many pictures of her taking off her shirt at parties. Later, when Van Allen called her in order to get an explanation, it resulted in her not getting the job. This shows how job candidates who use networking sites have to be aware that what they post could affect their job. The images shown on Facebook may show a side of him/her that that person did not want his/her boss or coworkers to see, and therefore he/she should be careful with what he/she posts online.

Although many employers may seem too old to be considered part of the Facebook Generation, and are therefore not expected to be aware of what their employees post about them on the web, employers are increasingly using social networking sites when it comes to hiring. Many big corporations were previously checking job applicant’s background information. Though, these social networking sites allow smaller businesses to check their potential employees as well. The biggest users of the social networking sites are financial services firms and health care providers as a high level of honesty is needed in these jobs. The main target of the web research and online background checks is new college students since they use they use the social networking sites more than any other age group.

The main concern with looking online for information that may not come up in a job interview is the ethical side of it. There is little that can be done to prevent hiring managers from discriminating against the information on these websites. This may cause a problem as information such as religion that is posted on Facebook may be linked to discrimination in businesses. But, Facebook and other social networking sites have privacy policies that protect the sites. The policies deny responsibility by stating that posting on the site allows the networking site to access or release the user’s content for a purpose. When a company is planning on defending a discrimination claim, social networking sites may be used for evidence including a person’s friends, opinions, and views.

A business using social networking sites to find out more information on employees and potential employees is fair. Although many people may not be happy with the information that is found about them, that person should be aware of everything that is posted online about him/her. If there are inappropriate pictures of that person, he/she must have been somewhere in order for these pictures to be taken, and therefore that person should have prevented those pictures from going online if they did not want them to be seen. There are also privacy policies that protect the social networking sites. Although many people do not read them, these policies explain to people signing up for the sites that information about them may be used. Even though people may not like what is found out about them by means of social networking sites, it is fair if the sites are used for background checks involved with hiring, firing, and promotions in businesses.