How Social Media Impacts Your Probability Of Getting Hired

The use of social media in hiring practices is increasing exponentially. Most companies encourage (or even require) candidates who register online to share their social media profiles. And when asked, many companies respond with, “Of course we use social media in our hiring practices.” Yet when pushed further – they quickly realize they are only touching the surface of what can be done with social media recruiting.

However, many candidates aren’t fully embracing using or combining their social media presence with searching and applying for new jobs.

Software Advice, an online resource for HR & recruiting software buyers, interviewed recruiters to see what red flags they look for when reviewing a candidate’s social media profiles. An online survey was created to find out whether the red flags recruiters use to size up candidates matched with common social media practices among job seekers. A total of 1,542 responses were randomly collected within the United States. Some key findings included:

• Just 66% of respondents said that they have a social media presence. (Note: recruiters cite this as a red flag—they prefer all candidates to have a social media presence.)
• A majority of social media users do not always make sure that their social media profiles match their resume.
• Most social media users do not speak poorly of their current or previous employers.

Social media has given recruiters and small business owners a new way to vet potential new hires. However, some of the red flags used to rule out candidates—a lack of social media profile and mismatched profiles and resumes—might be eliminating quality candidates.

Researcher Commentary

“In a Recruiting Channels Survey, Software Advice found that social media recruiting is on the rise, and growing quickly. Not only did we find that social media is the number three source for candidates, but it was delivering the highest quality candidates–particularly Twitter.”

“However, while recruiters may find social media a great option for finding and vetting talent, we also surveyed job seekers in the U.S. and found that not all job seekers use social media. In fact, over a third of respondents reported they had no social media presence whatsoever.”

“In the future, we predict this will change. A recent survey revealed that 91 percent of employers use social networks to screen prospective employees. As such, it seems that having an active social media presence will become more important for job seekers in the coming years.” — Software Advice HR Researcher, Erin Osterhaus

Look for subsequent blogs on how companies can take a more streamlined and standardized approach to incorporating social media into their hiring practices and processes.