Ever wish you could find out more on that finance applicant you’re on the fence about? You’re not alone, and more employers are digging deeper.
According to a recent CareerBuilder.com survey, 22% of hiring managers use social networking sites like MySpace, Facebook, etc. to research prospective employees. That’s up from 11% in 2006.
The survey also found an additional 9% of hiring managers plan to peruse social networking sites in the future as part of their hiring process.
While it may seem a tad creepy to sift through prospective workers’ personal info, it can save you from wasting time, effort and money by investing in the wrong candidate.
For example, 34% of the managers who searched social networking sites found content that caused them to dismiss the candidate, including:
- Information about candidate boozing or using drugs — 41%.
- Candidate trashing former employer or employees — 28%.
- Candidate sharing previous employer’s confidential info — 19%.
But before you commence to digging deeper, be careful. You can get in trouble if you don’t hire someone for discriminatory reasons/info from a social networking profile.
The survey was conducted based on the responses of 3,100 employers nationwide.