Influence of Social Media on Recruiting - Desklib

This article discusses the impact of social media on recruitment decisions and its ethical implications. It explores the pros and cons of accessing candidates' social media profiles and suggests ways to maintain a fair and unbiased recruitment process. The article also highlights the benefits of using LinkedIn for professional networking and recommends training employees on managing their social media profiles. References from various studies are provided to support the arguments.

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Organizational behavior
Influence of social media on recruiting

Social media to influence recruitment decisions.
Social media recruiting has recently evolved as an extensively practiced form of recruiting
within various organizations (Gibbs, MacDonald & Mackay, 2015). The advent of social
media through various platforms like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter is not unknown.
These websites have provided people with a platform to turn themselves into a brand (Harris
& Rae, 2011). People can share their ideas, communicate with others, voice their opinion and
discuss leading issues inflicting the world today. Every person has leveraged the platform as
it deems necessary for them.
The issue in this case is not rare. In the process of recruiting individuals, an access to their
social media platforms provides the HR personnel with certain additional information that
may or may not work in favour of the candidate (Kaur & Sharma, 2015). But is it really
ethical to gain access to an individual’s personal life while deciding their professional career?
Also, are the details shared by individuals on their social media platforms are really personal?
The first option of seeking permission from candidates before visiting their social media
platforms is surely an ethical move. However, there two risks posed in this process Firstly,
either of the candidates have complete authority to deny the access. This would probably give
the other candidates an unfair advantage. Secondly, there is a strong possibility that the
candidates edit, hide or delete any details that they deem might affect their chances of
selection. In which case, the entire picture would become unclear.
The second option of viewing the information that is public without informing the candidates
seems fair because every individual has an access to public information. However, there is no
surety that the public information provided by the candidates on these platforms truly reflects
on their professional life. Also the three candidates may not have public information to the
same extent. It is likely that one candidate’s profile is entirely accessible while the other
candidate’s profile has security access. Lastly, upon viewing the profile of either of these
candidates, if the HR finds any mutual relationships, then it may affect the HR’s decision
which in turn may lead to a biased judgement (Caers & Castelyns, 2011).
Lastly, the option about not looking at the social media profile of either of the candidates
leaves the organization at a disadvantage of not having any additional details about either of

them. In the future if the selected candidate’s public profile reflects badly on the organization
then it would be difficult to fix the issue.
In my opinion social recruiting is surely gaining ground but a certain line has to be drawn.
Every individual has a personal and a professional life and it may be unfair to judge anyone
based on the other. Out of the many social media platforms that exist, LinkedIn has been built
to enable and build professional relationships. An individual’s updated LinkedIn profile is the
closest to reflecting upon their professional life. The website also offers to demonstrate an
individual’s endorsements from their peers and seniors (Zide, Elman & Shahani-Denning,
2014). These endorsements might be beneficial for the organization in evaluating attributes of
individuals which suit the organizational culture.
Once an employee is recruited in the business, it is essential to recommend the employees to
maintain a decent public profile on all their social media platforms. This is specifically true
for people who are hired at a senior position. Trainings on effectively managing social media
profiles could also be provided by organizations to all their employees. However, it would be
largely unfair to judge an individual’s candidature based on anything that they share in their
personal time and space. Therefore I recommend that the HR personnel must invite the
candidates for a second round of interview or a psychometric test for better clarity on the
issue.

References
Caers, R., & Castelyns, V. (2011). LinkedIn and Facebook in Belgium: The influences and biases of
social network sites in recruitment and selection procedures. Social Science Computer
Review, 29(4), 437-448.
Gibbs, C., MacDonald, F., & MacKay, K. (2015). Social media usage in hotel human resources:
recruitment, hiring and communication. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality
Management, 27(2), 170-184.
Harris, L., & Rae, A. (2011). Building a personal brand through social networking. Journal of
Business Strategy, 32(5), 14-21.
Kaur, P., Sharma, S. (2015). Using social media for employer branding and talent management: An
experiential study. IUP Journal of Brand Management, 12(2), 7.
Zide, J., Elman, B. and Shahani-Denning, C., 2014. LinkedIn and recruitment: How profiles differ
across occupations. Employee Relations, 36(5), pp.583-604.