Utilization of social media in the recruitment process

This report explores the utilization of social media in the recruitment process, including its advantages, limitations, and consequences. It discusses the views on using social media data in hiring job applicants and examines the validity, legality, and ethics of such practices. The report also highlights the advantages of utilizing social media data in screening job candidates and the limitations and consequences that may arise from relying on this information.

Running head: Utilization of social media in the recruitment process 1
Utilization of social media in recruitment process
Students Name
Institutional Affiliation

Utilization of social media in the recruitment process 2
Table of Contents
Executive summary.........................................................................................................................2
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Views on the utilization of social media data in hiring job applicants............................................4
Advantages of utilizing social media data in recruiting job applicants...........................................6
Limitations of utilizing social media data in recruiting job applicants...........................................6
Consequences of utilizing social media data in recruiting job applicants.......................................6
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................7
References........................................................................................................................................8

Utilization of social media in the recruitment process 3
Executive summary.
The utilization of social media information in the selection process is currently a norm for
various organizations. However, this issue holds different views among different people since
some consider it reasonable and others wrong. This report seeks to explore this issue broadly.
Different aspects considered in the report include; utilization of social media in the hiring
process, advantages, limitations, and consequences.

Utilization of social media in the recruitment process 4
Introduction.
In the current age, social media has gone mainstream rather remaining the cutting edge in
most organizations. Therefore, for HR to ignore this fact would be like overlooking email twenty
years ago. According to a survey conducted by CareerBuilder in 2014, the proportion of
employers reporting that social media is the cause of the lack of hiring specific job candidates
has grown to about 51% (Landers & Schmidt, 2016). This means most employers use social
media in making their hiring calls mostly without the job candidates knowing it. As this wave of
social media selection has been highly adopted, more researchers are still convoluted on how
such consultations occur and what might affect the efficiency and accuracy of their judgments.
Views on the utilization of social media information in recruiting job applicants.
Employee selection can be defined as the methodology employers use in evaluating both
the decision-making process of employing the job applicants and the qualifications of job seekers
(Roth, Bobko, Van Iddekinge & Thatcher, 2016). By using social media, employers evaluate the
applicants using the online public information involving the applicants. What remains unclear is
how employers take advantage of such information. In dissecting this problem, the following
aspects give a clear understanding of the same.
To begin with, we have the issue of the validity and reliability of data acquired from
social media. Job candidates may not be honest in regards to their social media information.
Other go as far as creating false identities so as to capture attention (Zide, Elman, & Shahani-
Denning, 2014). For others applicants, their profiles may be contaminated with other people
wrong and misleading comments. For instance, an applicant’s friend may post contaminated
information in the applicant’s social media hence creating a wrong perception of the applicant.

Utilization of social media in the recruitment process 5
However, at times, the comments of friends can contain relevant information that can prove that
the applicant is useful in terms of job performance.
Secondly, in situations that information posted on social media is useful, at times it may
be illegal to consult it. Social media information is normally esteemed to be public my most
people; however, many legal systems prohibit the use of such information in making hiring
decisions (Landers & Schmidt, 2016). Therefore, this results in different circumstances of
unclear legality. For instance, an applicant may choose not to share his or her social media
information while submitting an application to an organization. If the hiring manager goes forth
to search the applicant’s online information and discovers various information of the applicant,
this information may unduly influence the hiring managers decision unintentionally or
intentionally. This influence can result in the violation of various legal protection (Landers &
Schmidt, 2016).
Thirdly, even though social media information can be consulted legally, this may not be
ethical. According to the above case, the employee considered not providing his social media
information on his/her application details; however, the employer goes forth to retrieve the
information. Although the information collected by the employer may have been public, this
would also be considered an invasion of privacy. This might affect the applicant’s reactions and
perception of the employer (Aguado, Rico, Rubio, & Fernández, 2016).
Lastly, even though the social media information is collected ethically and legally, it is
also unclear as to how it should be applied in the selection process. Currently, selection systems
include social media recommendations at the discretion of whoever makes the hiring decisions.
In addition, few systems formalize the collection and perusal of the social media information.

Utilization of social media in the recruitment process 6
Therefore, if such decisions are absorbed in the selection process, it may not be clear as to where
the process could be best assimilated (Marsden & Gorman, 2001).
Advantages of utilizing social media information in recruiting job applicants.
Utilization of social media in the recruitment process may have both advantages and
limitations. Beginning with the advantages, this form or recruiting reduces the time taken in the
selection process. The normal selection process can be tiring and long for both employers and
potential employees. However, the applicant’s data on social media can offer a glimpse of the
applicant’s personality and opinions regarding various aspects. Secondly, employers may use
social media data as a means to screen job candidates (Stoughton, Thompson, & Meade, 2015).
Therefore, organizations are able to filter the unacceptable and acceptable applicants without
having to waste time interviewing them.
Limitations of utilizing social media information in recruiting job applicants.
On the limitations, employing social media information in recruiting job applicants can
result in the acquiring of inaccurate information. It is assumed that most people in search of jobs
keep a single social media account (Melanthiou, Pavlou, & Constantinou, 2015). However, there
is a number that does not adhere to that. In addition, since people’s personalities change with
time, a piece of applicant information can be misleading hence causing inaccurate decisions to be
made. Secondly, we have compliance issues. By depending on social media data as a way of
guiding the recruitment process, an employer can become biased towards people that have a
huge following or a great social media presence as compared to people who are not so active
online.

Utilization of social media in the recruitment process 7
Consequences of utilizing social media information in recruiting job applicants.
The utilization of social media information in in recruiting job applicants can also result
in various consequences. To begin with, an organization can end up hiring an unqualified
individual due to the fake information presented on social media. This can result in an expense to
the organization since the individual may handle different aspects of the organization
unprofessionally. In addition, an organization can fail to acquire the right pool of talent it
requires to ensure continuous organizational growth (Nikolaou, 2014). Secondly, if an employer
is discovered that his or her hiring decisions are biased, the organization can be faced with
compliance issues which may affect the performance of the organization.
Conclusion.
In conclusion, social media information has been instrumental in the selection process
and it is still great. It allows potential employers to know more about their potential employees.
However, in my argument, I would rather recommend that employers stick to the main
application details. This would give true evidence of the person being vetted rather than using
social media information which can at times be misleading.

Utilization of social media in the recruitment process 8
References
Aguado, D., Rico, R., Rubio, V. J., & Fernández, L. (2016). Applicant reactions to social
network web use in personnel selection and assessment. Revista de Psicología del
Trabajo y de las Organizaciones, 32(3), 183-190.
Landers, R. N., & Schmidt, G. B. (2016). Social media in employee selection and recruitment:
An overview. In Social Media in Employee Selection and Recruitment (pp. 3-11).
Springer, Cham.
Marsden, P. V., & Gorman, E. H. (2001). Social networks, job changes, and recruitment.
In Sourcebook of labor markets (pp. 467-502). Springer, Boston, MA.
Melanthiou, Y., Pavlou, F., & Constantinou, E. (2015). The use of social network sites as an e-
recruitment tool. Journal of Transnational Management, 20(1), 31-49.
Nikolaou, I. (2014). Social networking web sites in job search and employee
recruitment. International Journal of Selection and Assessment, 22(2), 179-189.
Roth, P. L., Bobko, P., Van Iddekinge, C. H., & Thatcher, J. B. (2016). Social media in
employee-selection-related decisions: A research agenda for uncharted territory. Journal
of Management, 42(1), 269-298.
Stoughton, J. W., Thompson, L. F., & Meade, A. W. (2015). Examining applicant reactions to
the use of social networking websites in pre-employment screening. Journal of Business
and Psychology, 30(1), 73-88.

Utilization of social media in the recruitment process 9
Zide, J., Elman, B., & Shahani-Denning, C. (2014). LinkedIn and recruitment: How profiles
differ across occupations. Employee Relations, 36(5), 583-604.