Organizations need to be aware of the cons of using social media sites such as Facebook and twitter for looking up potential hires.   This practice has been found to be seen as a breach of privacy, can create a negative impression of the company and could even lead to lawsuits.

Researchers found that people are very sensitive to their privacy being compromised, regardless of whether they are offered the job or not.  They may even consider suing an organization for it.  It could even discourage candidates from accepting offers of employment if they interpret poor treatment of applicants as a preview or indication of how they would be dealt with as employees.

“Social network spying on job candidates could reduce the attractiveness of an organization during various phases of the selection process, especially if the applicant pool at large knows or suspects that the organization engages in such screening (Newsroom America).”

Plundering material online material online could elicit lawsuits for discrimination if the search reveals age, ethnicity, medical conditions, religious affiliation or similar personal information too early in the hiring process.

True Hire offers Social Media searches to assure management is not making decisions based on biased information.  Protect your company with True Hire!