Employers and Social Networking

Employers and Social Networking Sites
• May 26, 2010
• Cathy Herold

Social Networking Sites and Employers - anitapatterson
More and more companies research social networking sites of employees or prospective employees. Find out how online behavior affects employment.
Many people assume what they post on social networking sites is private; however, more and more employers are screening potential employees and currently employed employees.
Social Networking Sites and Job Applicants
Job seekers need to be aware that many employers use social networking sites to screen job applicants. According to Heather Havenstein in the September 12, 2008 ComputerWorld article "One in Five Employers Uses Social Networks," a survey of 31,000 employers released by CareerBuilder revealed that one third of the job candidates considered for jobs were rejected because of information gleaned from social media. Then in June 2009 a CareerBuilder survey in the article "Screening Candidates via Social Networking Sites" stated that 45 percent of employers reported they used social media for screening job applicants. The statistics from 2008 to 2009 reveal the number of employers who use information from the Internet is steadily increasing.
Employers peruse social networking sites of job applicants to check for unprofessional and immature online behavior. According to Havenstein, the CareerBuilder study suggests that people whose online images reveal drug and alcohol abuse are a major concern to companies that screen applicants using social media. Other online behavior employers are concerned about include inappropriate information and photos, poor communication skills, bad-mouthing employees and employers, inaccurate credentials, unprofessional screen names, information regarding criminal behavior, and the posting of confidential information about previous employers.
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