Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Social Networking Profiles and the War for Talent

I just read a very nice article with a lot of great suggestions for both recruiters and applicants with regards to social networking sites. In the article Pamala Moore sets out a few common sense guidelines for making sure to not use the information gather inappropriately.
My favorite of her points is that, "you might have some questionable behavior in your past that never stopped you from being great at your job." This, I believe, is the essence of how we use social networking sites for recruitment decisions. One mistake should not be used to rule out a candidate. This could result in the ruling out of a candidate who might have otherwise been the most qualified of the pool. Moore points out that it is always a good idea to use as many sources as possible to make your hiring decision. It's ok to use information found on the internet, but you risk limiting your talent pool of you don't look at enough other factors.
The other of Pamala's points that I appreciated was that if the information that you find on the internet pertains to a person's race, gender, national origin, age, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, physical or mental disability, marital status, or veteran status then you probably have not business using it to make any sort of hiring decision. In general, I believe, her main point was you cannot rely too much on what is found on the internet.
As for the applicant, her advise was simple: if it's on the internet, people will see it. Be smart what you leave on the internet.
A quote that she had in the article: “…like it or not, as a general proposition, employers are free to make unfair, stupid, arbitrary, and wrongheaded hiring and termination decisions, even based on false information, as long as in doing so they do not violate some specific law.”

- George Lenard of Harris, Dowell, Fisher & Harris, LC

- So true

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