Running head: RECRUITER SCREENING METHODS ON SNSs TOWARDS JOB SEEKERS 1 Recruiter Screening Methods on SNSs towards Job Seekers
Name
Institution RECRUITER SCREENING METHODS ON SNSs TOWARDS JOB SEEKERS
Screening Methods on SNSs towards Job Seekers
Abstract 2 RECRUITER SCREENING METHODS ON SNSs TOWARDS JOB SEEKERS 3 Introduction
The exponential growth of technology has influenced most, if not all, spheres of life.
There is virtually no limit to how much one can achieve through the use of technology. While it
has come with both pros and cons, it is a no-brainer that the pros outweigh the cons and that is
why it continues to grow even the more. Individuals, organizations, health facilities and
governments are all using technology in one way or the other to positively impact lives. In this
case, emphasis is on the use of technology, especially social networking tools, as an avenue of
screening job seekers to get the most qualified and the desirable talent to recruit. Technological
advancements are gradually phasing out the traditional hiring process that included merely
learning of a job, drafting a resume then attaching it to a cover letter then waiting to get that call
from the recruiter on whether they succeeded or not.
A while back, these unprecedented changes were unforeseen. Hardly was it possible to
hear that there will ever come a time when the recruiter will have a glimpse of the applicant’s
personal life prior to the invite. However, all this has become possible with the creation of
numerous social networking sites. For instance, some of the most popular social networking sites
which have proven rich grounds to draw information about applicants personal lives include
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Google+, YouTube, Tumblr, Snapchat, and WhatsApp
among many others. Through social media platforms, employers are steadily finding ways to
screen, review and recruit job seekers who meet the expectations of the position they have
applied for. RECRUITER SCREENING METHODS ON SNSs TOWARDS JOB SEEKERS 4 Literature of review
The research of literature on recruiter online screening methods toward job seekers has
showcased consistent data explaining how companies take steps in online recruiting and
screening of applicants who pursue their careers on social networking sites (SNSs). Online
screening has become a common practice among many businesses looking for the most qualified
candidates (Clark, & Roberts, 2010). According to Clark and Roberts (2010, p. 508), “Employers
have always been able to request background and reference information on job applicants but
have been self-restrained in doing so because of the cost and legal requirements.” These legal
boundaries often leave businesses with another option, which often involves a background check
into an applicant’s social media profile.
As mentioned by Osborn and LoFrisco (2012), Social media or SNSs have been defined
as services based online that assist people in creating professional or social profiles, connecting
with mutual associates and family, and connecting with others who have similar interest as the
user (Boyd, & Ellison, 2007, as cited in Osborn, & LoFrisco, 2012). As used as examples, SNSs
such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn have been used as outlets for connecting businesses,
women and men of different ages, more specifically college students to job sites where they can
openly post their resumes for companies to view (Osborn, & LoFrisco, 2012). There has not been
a social media platform that has proven to meet all the recruiters’ needs when it comes to getting
information about applicants. LinkedIn has a professional view and the people who use the social
networking site are alive to the fact that potential employers could be watching and so they clean
it up and really give it a professional look worthy of consideration. This site may give a biased
view on the real personality of a job seeker because there is too much that is sieved it. It is RECRUITER SCREENING METHODS ON SNSs TOWARDS JOB SEEKERS 5 important to note that recruitment requires that the job seeker possess skills that go beyond the
basic qualifications of a degree and other information associated with the job application.
The values, views, work style, personality and authenticity of a job seeker is as important
as the skills they possess. While this information may be lacking in the LinkedIn profile of the
person seeking employment, it is possible, almost with much ease, to get it off their other social
networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. Given the enormous size of the Facebook user base, it is almost guaranteed that an individual seeking a job will have a Facebook account.
Owing to the kind of information that is normally seen on Facebook, it is safe to assume that that
is not a viable avenue to screen job applicants. That is not the case. Facebook offers recruiters a
chance to get a personal view of the applicants beyond the mere listing of what one has
accomplished or the skills they possess.
Through this outlet, employers may informally view an applicant or employees profile on
Social Media during the process of hiring them (Clark, & Roberts, 2010, p. 507-508). Through
twitter and Facebook, potential employers are able to gauge judgmental, communication,
creative skills as well as the personality of the job applicant. These sites show how applicants
handle confidential information, if they post derogatory remarks about former employees, or
inappropriate pictures. In addition, they show how effectively can communicate through the
written words by not having grammatical or spelling errors. The personality of person is great a
determinant on whether one will land a job or not. If their profile shows that they can coexist
with others, employers will be hesitant in giving them an opportunity. For those reasons, it’s
important for applicants to be cautious of how they present themselves on social media
platforms. RECRUITER SCREENING METHODS ON SNSs TOWARDS JOB SEEKERS 6 Depending on the position chosen, the layout of an applicant’s social media profile can
play a major role in whether an employer decides to hire that person or not. As said by Phelps
“employers are turning to social media because they are under pressure to hire carefully in an
economy where there are plenty of job seekers and few jobs” (Vatamanescu, & Manuc, 2013, as
cited in Lory, 2011, p.10). Despite the shortage in jobs available, social media has become an
important process in job recruitment. In the present age, a mere expression of interest in a certain
position is not enough to guarantee one that they will be hired. Recruiters receive applications in
large numbers and it is both a tedious and time-consuming job to go through each of them. To
deal with this scenario, recruiters are seeking ways of obtaining summarized information about
the applicant. For instance, any forward-thinking organization makes use of Apps like Social
Media for Recruitment also known as Social Recruiting App which sieves through the high
traffic of applicants to get only the information that is relevant to the job. Besides sieving
through the applications, this app acts as an advertisement tool to push the brand to the clients.
According to Bennet (2013), “social media for hiring purposes is at an all-time high: 92
percent of companies use platforms such as Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook for recruitment, and
45 percent of Fortune 500 firms include links to social media on their career page.” In addition,
many of these social media platforms are used through sources such as university career centers
to target undergraduate or graduate college students (Osborn, & LoFrisco, 2012). University
students are the ideal target group for employers when recruiting because of their early
susceptibility to the internet and social media platforms.
Over the years the internet has had a major influence on both online job seekers and
employers recruiting or screening applicants (Feldman, & Klaas, 2002). Through these webbased services, applicants are able to continually submit resumes on a broad scale to companies RECRUITER SCREENING METHODS ON SNSs TOWARDS JOB SEEKERS 7 of all kinds. Employers are able to use social networking sites to source for and recruit
prospective candidates. Social networking sites allow employees to also better understand how to
tailor their applications to suit what is required by the employees. While avenues such as
Facebook and Twitter do not necessarily act as the final verdict in employing someone, they are
sort of extensions of the resume. They give employers a deeper view of the applicants and serve
as conversation starters to get to know them and what they stand for. In some instances, the use
of social media may be a requirement that employees need to possess. For instance,
organizations involved in digital marketing will need their employees to be conversant with
social networking sites as that it the main avenue of generating income.
Employer steps in recruiting
During the process of online recruiting, a majority of employers proceed with four
important steps during the hiring procedure. Those steps include reviewing the submission of a
cover letter, and resume, making the initial call and finally setting up the face to face interview
(Meagher, 2014). According to Meagher (2014) “several scholarly articles have been written
about the four steps in the recruiting process, but few have examined the selection factors that
recruiters and hiring managers seek in the four steps of the recruiting process.” The selection
factors examined by recruiters are the small details employers and hiring managers look for in
each of the four steps. Many hiring managers take into account how well the cover letter and
resume are prepared, and if they could quickly find qualities in which their business benefits
from. The initial call follows after the cover letter and resume are carefully reviewed. During the
call, a face to face interview would be set up depending on if the conversation between the
recruiter and job seeker meets the businesses expectations. Nonetheless, the face to face RECRUITER SCREENING METHODS ON SNSs TOWARDS JOB SEEKERS 8 interview will never be considered unless the cover letter and resume show qualities needed by
the employer.
The recruiting process begins when the job applicant submits their cover letter and
resume, which are the first two steps. The resume is usually accompanied by the cover letter and
reviewed together by the employer. Many recruiters come across countless cover letters and
resumes on a daily basis and because of the sheer number of them, they are forced to be selective
of which candidates meet the criteria in the position they are applying to (Meagher, 2014). In
order to meet the criteria industries look for in applicants, resumes and cover letters are reviewed
for specific traits such as knowledge, skill, personality and ability. For instance, if an applicant
applies for a position in marketing sales, communication skills are a quality that would be
considered if seen in a resume or spoke about in the cover letter. If the criteria is met and the
traits are identified in the first two steps, the employer will then proceed to the third step, which
is the initial phone call. Through conversation on the phone, the employer examines whether the
job seeker employs the knowledge, skill, personality and ability that were displayed in the cover
letter and resume. If the employer is satisfied with the phone call, he/she proceeds with the fourth
and final step, which is the face to face interview. One of the most crucial steps in the hiring
process is the face to face interview.
As defined in Winning Applicants: An Exploratory Case Study of the Selection Factors of
Recruiters and Hiring Managers, a face to face interview is a “experience based
interview. Also known as behavior interview. This is a type of structured interview shows
higher validity for predicting job performance; the responses the interviewee gives are
measured with a behavior rating scale, which indicates relevant behaviors that are
necessary for the job (Meagher, 2014 as cited in Macan, 2009).” RECRUITER SCREENING METHODS ON SNSs TOWARDS JOB SEEKERS 9 In the final step, recruiters evaluate applicants based on their experience and behavior displayed
in the first three steps. Once the applicant progresses through all four steps and is demeaned
qualified for the position, he/she is hired and is known as a winning applicant. Other than the
review of the Cover letter, resume, the initial phone call and the face to face interview, employers
engage in alternate methods to screen applicants.
Employer screening methods
The internet has grown drastically over the past few decades and has greatly affected the
way businesses and people interact, communicate, find jobs and has also given employers
different ways to further screen job applicants (Clark, & Roberts, 2010). Other than the
traditional four step process in which businesses or hiring managers review a applicants cover
letter, resume, make the initial phone call and set up the face to face interview, recruiters
occasionally have been known to review an applicant’s social media profile. Social media
platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Google+, YouTube, Tumblr,
Snapchat, and WhatsApp are occasionally utilized in screening job applicants. Whether these
searches legally violate the applicants privacy, is entirely depended on the position in which the
job seeker has applied too (Clark, & Roberts, 2010). Moreover, if the applicant is not aware of
what their social media profile such as Facebook for example, it could hurt their chances in
receiving a response from the employer (Vatamanescu, & Manuc, 2013).
According to Clark and Roberts (2010), SNSs have been around since the early 2000’s,
given Friends, family and coworkers a way to stay connected. As one of the hugest social
networking sites, Facebook started around 2004 as a way for college students to communicate
but then later extended into a corporate sector within the college it started with. By 2009 it grew
in activity and was reported to have around 200 million users (Clark, & Roberts, 2010, p. 508). RECRUITER SCREENING METHODS ON SNSs TOWARDS JOB SEEKERS 10 Employers have the ability to access a job seekers social media profile such as Facebook
by simply conducting a web search through SNSs like google, by inputting an applicant’s name
in the search engine. Other than search engines, employers may also create a Facebook account
to view an applicant’s profile. However, some applicants have privacy settings in place.
“Recruiters can also access your personality indicators on Facebook through indirect
means. If a company searches for your profile and finds it is blocked, it still has the
possibility to view your Facebook friends. There is a good chance that some of your
friends do not have their profiles protected and employers may judge you by the kind of
friends you have. From the data acquired about your friends, they can make assumptions
about you by association, whether accurate or not (Vatamanescu, & Manuc, 2013, p.246,
as cited in Engler, Tanoury. 2007).
Apart from searches through Facebook profiles, employers have been known to use a
number of different social media profiles such as Twitter and LinkedIn. Within a short timespan
Twitter became the 3rd most used SNSs in 2009 among younger generations, and since its
evolution in popularity it’s been used by many businesses as well (Clark, & Roberts, 2010).
Twitter is known for its ability to allow users to post simple questions, share their thoughts or
even rant about personal issues. An employer can search an applicant and view their comments,
and based on what they see, they can determine that person’s traits. Similar to Twitter, recruiters
can also view profile information on an applicants LinkedIn.
Unlike Facebook or Twitter, LinkedIn allows specific features for employers to purposely
view a job seekers profile. Through an applicants LinkedIn account they can apply to positions
posted by companies globally (Osborn, & LoFrisco, 2012). Dependent on the position and how it
relates to the applicants skill set, the applicant can apply for the position and send an uploaded RECRUITER SCREENING METHODS ON SNSs TOWARDS JOB SEEKERS 11 form of their cover letter and resume. The employer receives an email with the applicants contact
info and a link to further review their personality traits through their LinkedIn page. With the
exception of LinkedIn, many social media platforms are informally used as outlets to screen
applicants. Whether there’s a legal right to privacy in these screenings, is still unclear by many
scholars.
It seems that international jurisdiction may play a vital role in whether rights to legal
privacy affects employer screenings (Clark, & Roberts, 2010). As mentioned in Employer’s use
of Social Networking Sites: A Socially Irresponsible Practice “some legal systems, such as
Spain’s, strongly protect a personal realm of privacy that seems to trump an employer’s interest
in considering personal information when making employment decisions” (Clark, & Roberts,
2010, as cited in Arranda, 2002). Also, there are countries such as Brazil and Italy that govern in
self-determination which gives applicants flexibility and freedom to display their true self’s on
their social media platform.
In America, privacy and legal restrictions on unannounced online recruiter background
checks are varied depending on the kind of position job seekers apply to. Employer background
checks effect both applicants and employees already established in positions. For example, a US
flight attendant lost her job for simply posting a picture of herself in uniform online and a
producer for one of CNN’s shows was fired for blogging off work. According to Clarks and
Roberts (2010), there are two main consequences that come from these unauthorized checks
recruiters employ. As mentioned in the previous example, employees who have a position can
lose it based on whether the content online displayed is harmful to the business. Job seekers who
apply online would simply receive a response via email stating “the position has been filled” or
receive no response at all. The practice of these online checks have been studied and argued as RECRUITER SCREENING METHODS ON SNSs TOWARDS JOB SEEKERS 12 unethical and has begged the question: Is it a company’s social responsibility to refrain from
using SNS’s in the screening process? Whether the answer is yes or no, it doesn’t change the fact
that the use of technology has been effective in not just screening applicants but attracting them
as well (Feldman, & Klaas, 2002. Employer methods used to attract Job Seekers
As discussed already, the use of online SNS’s have been detrimental in given employers
the ability to screen applicants, and beneficial in recruiting applicants through the four step
hiring process. In addition, to these factors, social media has also played a major role in
attracting job seekers through networking means (Ollington, Gibb, & Harcourt, 2013). Most of
the methods used for attracting job seekers, heavily involve the use of social media platforms
such as LinkedIn where businesses can consistently post, update and notify LinkedIn members
who fit the skill requirements of a position companies need filled. In addition, to social media
platforms, job sites such as careerbuilder.com and monster.com are used continually as outlets
for connecting applicants to company websites where they can further gain information on job
positions, internships and apply if they are interested (Feldman, & Klaas, 2002).
The main audience of applicants online tend to be college students since undergraduates
and graduates have a higher drive to finding jobs, so they tend to apply in bigger quantities than
those who are out of school or finished. According to Osborn and LoFrisco (2012, p.263), “the
popularity and growth of SNS’s, particularly among the college-age demographic, makes them
logical tools for university career centers to use to connect with students.” University career
centers are web services used in a majority of college institutions to connect students with RECRUITER SCREENING METHODS ON SNSs TOWARDS JOB SEEKERS 13 employers or other students in regards to internships, job offers, career fairs, workshops, career
counseling and other avenues of career focus. As mentioned in How Do Career Centers Use
Social Networking Sites, a survey involving about 78 university career centers was conducted to
find out the average in how often the web based centers utilized SNS’s in service to employers
recruiting job seekers (Osborn, & LoFrisco, 2012). In short the results showed that most career
centers utilize at least more than 1 social media site in the process of sharing general information
related to employment or internships. Notes to consider: In addition, you could also talk about the legal aspect of using social media
as a screening tool, the advantages of using social media as a screening tool. RECRUITER SCREENING METHODS ON SNSs TOWARDS JOB SEEKERS 14 References
Feldman, D. C., & Klaas, B. S. (2002). Internet job hunting: A field study of applicant
experiences with on-line recruiting. Human Resource Management, 41(2), 175-192. Retrieved
from https://search.proquest.com/docview/222069303?accountid=12793
Osborn, D. S., & LoFrisco, B. M. (2012, September). How do career centers use social
networking sites? Career Development Quarterly, 60(3), 263+. Retrieved from http://bi.galegroup.com/essentials/article/GALE%7CA304467337?u=jers45639&sid=summon
Vatamanescu, E., & Manuc, D. (2013). Facebook self-(re)presentation and the employers'
practice of using it as a recruitment tool. Management Dynamics in the Knowledge Economy,
1(2), 241-257. Retrieved from https://search.proquest.com/docview/1517634850? accountid=12793
Clark, L. A., & Roberts, S. J. (2010). Employer's use of social networking sites: A socially
irresponsible practice. Journal of Business Ethics, 95(4), 507-525. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10551-010-0436-y
Ollington, N., Gibb, J., & Harcourt, M. (2013). Online social networks: An emergent recruiter
tool for attracting and screening. Personnel Review, 42(3), 248-265. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/00483481311320390
Meagher, K. A. (2014). Winning applicants: An exploratory case study of the selection factors of
recruiters and hiring managers (Order No. 3629104). Available from ProQuest Central; ProQuest RECRUITER SCREENING METHODS ON SNSs TOWARDS JOB SEEKERS
Dissertations & Theses Global. (1559245469). https://search.proquest.com/docview/1559245469?accountid=12793
Bennett, S. (2013). http://www.adweek.com/digital/social-media-recruiting/ Retrieved 15
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