The Role of Social Media Checks in Modern Hiring

These days, it’s pretty standard for employers to run background checks on potential hires. But here's the twist: more and more employers are also giving candidates' social media profiles a good look. It's like an extra step in the hiring game. Checking out what people post on social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. can provide some interesting insights. But this approach comes with its own set of challenges. A major one is the risk of introducing bias into the hiring process. So, before you step in and investigate your candidates, it’d be smart to figure out how social media checks really work and what they’re all about.

What are Social Media Background Checks?

A Social Media Background Check dives deep into a person's online presence, scanning through their social media activity for any red flags. It's like detective work for the digital age. The check also explores the groups or associations a person is linked to on social media. You see, someone might have a fairly clean personal profile, but the real story could lie in their connections or affiliations. If they're part of groups or frequently engage with pages linked to problematic content or extremist ideologies, it could raise concerns that might influence a hiring decision. It's all about painting a complete picture. You'd want to do your due diligence on your new hire and prevent any future surprises along the way. After all, your employees also represent your organisation, in and out of work.

Why Employers Use Social Media Checks

Employers use social media background checks to get a sense of who the candidates are beyond the professional façade. These checks can offer valuable insights into a candidate’s character and provide a well-rounded on how they might blend (or not) into the company culture.

During a social media check, certain red flags might surface that could raise concerns for employers. These aren't necessarily indicators of a person's job performance but can make employers uneasy. These red flags include excessive use of profanity, images of wild partying, or extreme political views.

It's essential to remember that responsible, informed, and respectful individuals, the kind most employers prefer to hire, typically don't have these red flags pop up during a social media background check.

Now, it's worth noting that the relevance of social media background checks can vary depending on the job. For roles where employees interact directly with the public and essentially become the face of the company, these checks hold more weight. In contrast, for those working behind the scenes without public-facing roles, their social media profiles may not be as significant because they don't closely tie their online presence to their employer. It's all about context and the nature of the job.

What Employers Look for in Social Media Checks

Employers usually look for three things while conducting social media background checks. Those are as follows:

Check if the applicant will be a good fit with the company’s culture

Consider this: Your profile on Facebook provides a more accurate image of your actual self than a screening questionnaire would. When presented with a questionnaire it is always easier to submit responses that you believe the employer wants. On Facebook, though, your friends can easily detect any attempt to create an image that doesn’t align with who you are in reality.

Therefore, recruiters or HR managers can get a better overview of the candidate’s real personality through social media background checks and determine whether he is a good fit with their company’s culture.

Conduct Social Media Checks to learn more about their potential candidates’ qualifications

If the candidate mentioned about his communication skills in the CV, does his online behavior back that up? The employers take a peek into the applicant’s recent tweets or posts. They check if he comes across as eloquent, clever, and kind, or if he comes across as combative, aggressive, and uses colorful language.

The main concern for employers is whether the information the candidate has provided about his education, skills, job history, and past employment corresponds to what's on his CV and they verify this by examining the candidate’s social media handles through social media check.

Hiring Managers check for red flags through Social Media Background Check

The way a candidate embraces and employs the latest networking tools and technology may reveal a lot about his personality. Hiring managers usually go through his social media content to get more information about the candidate’s personality and identify the red flags if any.

The potential red flags that can be identified through social media checks are as follows:

• Illicit substances
• Content that endorses violence
• Sexist content
• Offensive content
• Racist content
• Discriminatory content, including drug allusions
• Content endorsing or suggesting criminal conduct

What are the benefits of Social Media Background Checks

Social media checks serve a variety of purposes when it comes to hiring an ideal candidate for a job. Here are a few benefits of conducting social media check before hiring:

• Getting to know your potential hire better

  When employers try to get an overview of their potential new hire, social media check can serve as their secret weapon. The applicant may certainly put on his best face during an interview, but what about his online presence? That's where the employer gets to know what truly lies behind the curtains by checking what other people think, speak, or write about the candidate over social media.

• Accurate and inexpensive background check

  When it comes to checking out a candidate’s background, social media checks turn out to be an accurate and budget friendly option. While other background checks might take some time to fetch the results back to you, on the other hand, social media checks could be a better and faster option, where you don’t need to keep twiddling your thumbs waiting to get the screening reports. Social media background check is thus an affordable superhero in the hiring world. It is quick, inexpensive, and allows your business to quickly screen candidates without having to keep an eye on the clock.

• More than just spotting the red flags

  Social media checks are more than just simply spotting the red flags, it can also prove to be like a treasure trove of hidden talents, just waiting to be discovered. Nowadays people generally like to showcase their talent and skills on social media like LinkedIn and Instagram. Consider a candidate who turned out to be nervous during the interview or call, but when you checked out through his social media profiles you get to know that he excels in public speaking and has a talent for networking. As an employer these skills might be a game changer for your company. Therefore, social media checks can prove to be like your binoculars to search for the right talent for your company.

Conclusion

While employers today might be tempted to do some DIY social media screening in this digital era, but before that consider the advantages of Complygate’s social media check solution:

• Enhanced Efficiency: It’s all about working smarter not harder. Complygate’s system automates the hiring process, making it faster and more efficient.
• Standardised Report: Say goodbye to unpredictable outcomes. Complygate guarantees consistency and reliability of reports.
• Time Saver: There will be no more manual searching via profiles. Complygate saves you time by doing the legwork for you.
• Objective Matching: AI gets in on the action, matching profiles objectively, taking the bias out of the equation.
• Quality Control: Accuracy is important in quality control. Complygate blends technological expertise with human assessment to keep those reports on track.

Exploring candidates' and employees' social media profiles may be a great way to learn more about them. Complygate's social media background check is the go-to option for ensuring dependability. It's not just about protecting companies; it might also speed up the hiring process, making it more efficient and productive. So, if you want to keep informed and make educated decisions, book a demo or contact us today!