reCareered: The Huge Gap Between Candidate Expectations And Employer Reality In Social Media

Candidates Expect One Thing, But Employers Use Social Media Differently To Source Employees

The article asked the question:

“If a candidate applies and you don't know a lot about them, should you do a little detective work via social media?”

The article itself included quotes from a lawyer, the CEO of a HR technology firm and a staffing consultant for Microsoft. They all gave carefully constructed answers, clearly approved by legal teams first, that basically said to look at social media - but only for things that are relevant to their jobs, not their personal life.

For instance, the CEO shared "This doesn't mean companies should look up everything on the candidate and use those vacation pictures or personal tastes to judge if that person is a good candidate for the job. It's important to remember our private persona is very different from our professional one. If someone writes she likes wine, that doesn't mean she's going to drink wine at her desk."

In addition, the Microsoft staffing consultant stated "When researching a candidate's applicable skills in relation to a specific job it should not matter what they have been doing in their free time, on their vacations, or over holidays. What is important is their ability to perform the appropriate tasks in relation to the position."

While the article gave “safe” answers, look at the unscripted answers that employers and recruiters gave in the comments to Mashable’s Facebook post. These answers are a realistic window in how employers and recruiters really use social media to do detective work on candidates.

Check out these Employer Comments (names removed, all else direct quotes including typos):

It has lead me to WISH I had based my decision off of it. :D
You have to!
OfCour.se!
I did when we were hiring interns. Definitely helped us decide against some candidates.
Great information! I agree being a former HR Director and Healthcare CEO!
I am a recruiter and you BET I use FB to check out potential candidates. M hit the nail on the head with her rule of thumb...
Whoa-- newsflash! The internet? It's PUBLIC! So if you don't want people to see your info, set things to the highest level of privacy you can set to and don't have 1439 of your closest "friends" hooked into your pages, as you never know who your friend of a friend is. You can rest assured that when I owned a staffing agency every single candidate was searched out on social networking sites as well as Google searched. It was a GREAT indicator of overall common sense.
yeah i do
we can still see you even in privacy ,theres really no hiding like you may think ,just be honest and you don't need to try
It's fantastic way to know his thinking before hiering
Everyone's responsible for what they put online about themselves
even better - view your social media communities/platforms (the ones you've built & curated for your own unique needs) as a way to broadcast the varying facets of your professional & personal self!

A candidate who has endearing social media profiles will subtly compel recruiters and potential employers to call you for an interview.

Candidates who demonstrate their ability to use social media in a mature, efficient and endearing way are PRE-SELLING themselves to potential employers (buyers) - you're offering them what they're asking for, plus a bonus in some free social media expertise (if you decide to be the world expert on your industry on social media, you can be).
- you are literally proving your ability to adapt and learn the latest technologies on your own
- you suggest a powerful network of contacts, visible in your Facebook friends (profile should be linked to LinkedIn and Twitter)
- what IF the recruiter sees you are "friends" with an important politician who's policies affect your industry?
- What IF the recruiter sees you are "friends" with a wide variety of vendors in your industry?
- What IF you are ALREADY Facebook friends with the person who will interview you, and be your boss -- do you think you might be more comfortable preparing to meet with them, when you've previously participated in interesting online discussions with them?
- What IF the online discussions you have solve a problem or answer an urgent question for someone in your industry? When they need to hire for that role, IF you've kept yourself and your expertise top of mind in online communities, they'll be coming to you!
Of course, respect all privacy and confidentiality, but seriously, if your are NOT using Facebook for your own professional benefits then you won't be one of the millions of people who are using Facebook for their own professional benefit.

When God was handing out the ability to use social media profiles for professional gain, you chose to refuse that gift? If you complain about your business, and you are not using social media for the benefit of your business, but you are on Facebook, you are a schmuck.

Facebook IS THE NEW Yellow Pages - Free to advertise in, even if I move or change numbers or tell my cell co to take a hike, I still maintain all my personal & professional contacts on a Facebook dashboard I've customized for my unique privacy needs.
yes I do. specially now I'm looking for community managers
a big YES
Germany just started discussing to forbid this... but why? It's a great way to see whether or not a job candidate fits in your personell structure.
YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Did you notice that every single employer/recruiter comment talked enthusiastically about how social media is a great tool to see behind the resume and get a better idea of who the candidate is?

Not even one employer/recruiter said they don’t use social media to check candidates. Further, the employers/recruiters who responded suggested they use social media to the fullest extent possible to get a better idea of how a candidate would “fit”.

Compare this to candidate views:

( Continued ... What Do Candidates Expect About Employer Use Of Social Media? )

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Related Articles:
Who Are You?
Why use Social Branding to search for a job when you’ve already got a job?

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Source: http://recareered.blogspot.com/

Original quotes from: http://openfoum.com

Full Facebook discussion at: Mashable’s Facebook page