Recruiting and Social Networking

[Jen Carpenter]

Social networking sites have become increasingly important in the recruiting world, with many companies turning to Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn to find new candidates and screen potential employees. Using social networking sites along with HR software can greatly help a company find the right people to fill the job. Visit http://pcrecruiter.net to learn more.

A June survey from CareerBuilder including 2,600 hiring managers found that 45 percent use social networking sites to research the backgrounds of job candidates, which is an increase from 22 percent during 2008.

While LinkedIn has always been viewed as the more professional of the social networking sites, more companies are establishing a presence on Facebook and Twitter by creating corporate pages, which help to increase visibility and networking opportunities.

When using social networking sites, many companies will look to see if a candidate: has spoken at industry events, has received awards or public recognition, has relevant published papers or articles, is a member of any associations, actively participates in forums or affiliated groups or holds a professional industry certification.

However, because social networking sites have become so popular and so accessible, job seekers must remember to be careful about what they post online. It's important to keep in mind that any information you choose to share could be seen by a future employer. Therefore, you should maintain an online image that represents who you are.

So while any positive information you post can help you look better to an employer, any information you post that an employer deems negative could ultimately hurt your chances of getting the job. In the CareerBuilder survey mentioned above, more than one-third of employers who use social networking sites to find information on potential candidates said they had found content that disqualified a potential hire.

The top four reasons for disqualification were if a candidate had posted information about themselves drinking or using drugs, displayed inappropriate photographs, bad-mouthed a previous employer or showed poor communication skills.