Using Social Media for Recruiting

Overview

Social media is being used extensively by organizations for recruiting purposes. In fact, the percentage of companies using social media in this manner has increased over time. One of the articles that I discovered in my research discussed this increase by presenting the results of a survey conducted by the Society for Human Resource Management. In this survey of 277 participants, it was found that 56% of participants used social media for recruiting in 2011 compared with 34% of participants who used this tool for recruiting in 2008 (Darragh, 2012). Based on this increase, the percentage of use is probably even higher in the current year. The survey also found that the most popular social media site for recruiting was LinkedIn, followed by Facebook and Twitter (Darragh, 2012). Employers can create profiles on these sites, post upcoming recruiting events and job openings, and connect with potential employees who also have profiles on these sites. However, there may be some legal risks with using social media due to the amount of sensitive information posted on these profiles, such as religious and political views. This blog entry is going to discuss the potential legal issues of using social media to attract employees as well as ways for organizations to protect themselves from these problems. The benefits of using social media will also be presented.

Benefits of using social media

One of the benefits of using social media for recruiting purposes is that it is a low-cost method. Most social networking sites do not require any payment for joining. The money saved from using social media for recruiting can be used to fund long-term projects for the growth of the organization. Social media also makes the recruiting process quicker because it takes seconds to send or receive information through the various social media sites. “With the ability to take information directly from a user’s social media profile, the HR department can review candidate information in seconds rather than several minutes” (Doherty, 2010). This means that the recruiting process becomes more efficient with the use of social networking. Besides these advantages, social networking sites help an organization connect with passive candidates. These candidates are talented individuals who are not actively seeking a job position but may become interested with further contact by an employer (Doherty, 2010). This will of course increase an organization's pool of potential employees to fill current and future openings.

Legal implications

Most of the problems that occur from using social media for recruiting are connected with legal issues. With the amount of personal information that is available on social networking sites, lawsuits for discrimination in employment practices may hurt organizations if they do not effectively monitor the use of social media in recruiting. “Title VII of the Civil Rights Act makes it unlawful for any employer to make employment decisions based on color, race, religion, sex, or national origin” (Darragh, 2012). It is illegal for employers to pre-screen job candidates on this type of personal information, which includes veteran status, age, and disabilities as well, based on state and federal regulations. Therefore, it is very important to make sure that this information does not affect hiring decisions. Another risk is the disparate impact on minorities and other protected classes from using social networking sites. Disparate impact was presented in our course material in the discussion about discrimination. Disparate impact occurs when a particular employment practice, which is not related to the necessities of the job position, negatively affects protected classes. Organizations that exclusively use professional networking sites will have a disparate impact on minority groups who are under-represented on these types of sites (Darragh, 2012). There may be generational variations in the usage of social networking sites as well. Organizations that use social networking sites may end up “violating civil rights laws by accidentally excluding too many applicants over the age of 40 given younger persons tend to be more likely to use these websites” (Davison, Maraist, & Bing, 2011). Many risks exist in social media recruiting.

Employers need to come up with efficient methods to mitigate the risks described above. One approach is to “create guidelines as to how social media searches are to be performed and the appropriate search terms personnel can use” (Darragh, 2012). A detailed plan for how and when social media is used should be in place. Another method is to have one employee handle social media searches on potential employees and pass on nondiscriminatory information to the hiring manager who makes the employment decision.  This would ensure that discriminatory information is not used in hiring (Darragh, 2012). In order to avoid disparate impact problems, employers should use social media along with other recruiting methods to hire individuals from a broad range of candidates.

Relevance to students

Social media recruiting is relevant to students because of the widespread use of the method. It has become a part of human resource management. Also, this means that students need to make sure that they participate in social networking sites to get the attention of recruiters. Many great job opportunities, which they may not know about, can become available to them through these sites. It is important for students to be aware of the legal implications of this recruiting tool as well in order to understand what information can be used from their own profiles for hiring decisions and how to legally use social media for hiring employees in their careers. Due to the increase in usage, students will definitely face social media recruiting at some point in their career. This blog entry discussed some of the advantages and disadvantages of using social media during the recruiting process. The use of social networking is efficient but it may cause legal issues. This post discussed some legal risks and the solutions for employers to mitigate risks and effectively use social media in attracting talented and diverse individuals.

References

Darragh, R. (2012). Recruiting risk: Hiring via social media channels. Compliance Week, 9(97), 49-49,57. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/930781133?accountid=12924

Davison, H. K., Maraist, C., & Bing, M. N. (2011). Friend or foe? The promise and pitfalls of using social networking sites for HR decisions. Journal of Business and Psychology, 26(2), 153-159. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10869-011-9215-8

Doherty, R. (2010). Getting social with recruitment. Strategic HR Review, 9(6), 11-15. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/14754391011078063  

 
Mathis, J. (2011). Human Resource Management. 13th ed. Ohio: South-Western Cengage Learning.