Social Network Employment Background Screening Decreases Likelihood of Job Applications

In a recent study presented at the 27th Annual Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology in North Carolina State University, research shows that companies that require or employ social network and social media background check through websites like facebook and twitter have been found to reduce the attractiveness to job applicants and likelihood of applications. This also shows a similar amount of discontent with current workers as well. Additional information gathered from these sites is usually required by a few companies, which also require the applicants to divulge their usernames or their profiles as part of the requirements.

Authors and presenters, Lori Foster Thompson and Adam Meade: “175 students applied for a fictitious temporary job they believed to be real and were later informed they were screened. Applicants were less willing to take a job offer after being screened, perceiving the action to reflect on the organization’s fairness and treatment of employees based on a post-study questionnaire. They also felt their privacy was invaded.”

Stoughton, a doctoral candidate in industrial and organizational psychology at NCSU, declared that while organizations may practice social media and networking screening in searching for the best applicants, the case study found social networking screening actually reduces an organization’s attractiveness for applicants and current company staffs. “By doing this, you assume the applicants that organizations end up choosing are more conscientious, but no studies show that these individuals are any better,” he said. “They could actually be eliminating better applicants.”

Attorney Lester Rosen, an experienced background check and identification check expert, agrees. “Employers need to carefully consider any practice that may discourage the best applicants from applying,” said Rosen. “Even though there is a historically high unemployment rate presently, certain positions are still very difficult to fill, and in the long run, as the baby boomers retire, the competition for talent will become fierce.”

As a way to assist employers and companies who employ such practices through the different legal dangers including the best solutions to avoid problems, Rosen has provided a complementary and free white paper titled: Managing the Risks of Using the Internet for Employment Screening Background Checks. The white paper updated last March 2012, warns that companies could encounter legal landmines while using social media background checks. “Employers should not simply assume that anything on the web is fair game and freely available without consequence,” adds Rosen.

White paper download source: esrcheck.com