-
Jenny - We use Signet Screening (https://signetscreening.com/) for our background checks. I believe they will do a social media check for you so it's a neutral third party evaluation. We love Signet because of their customer service. It's the best!
Robin
-
Back when social media was just starting, we, as HR professionals, were warned to never look at their social media accounts as we could potentially be sued. Let's say we didn't know if they were in a protected class or not and we just didn't hire them. If they could prove that we viewed their social media, they could make a case that we found out they were over 40 or a minority or Catholic or whatever and that's why we didn't hire them. I think checking social media is risky or at least it used to be. Thanks.
-
You are 100% correct Susan about the risky nature of checking social media activity. That's why hiring a reputable, independent third party is critical. The information that they would provide would be scrubbed of that type of identifying information that is not relevant to whether the candidate can perform the job.
-
I never look at social media when assessing a candidate. People can set up fake profiles with anyone's picture, several people can have the same name, they may not have any social media accounts, etc. I have discouraged our hiring managers from playing PI on their own after one discounted the strongest candidate (on paper) before we ever met her because she had a neck tattoo in her profile picture.
-
Hi Jenny,
If you are considering adding a check of social media activity to your background check process for candidates, you should also have a social media policy for your current workforce as well. Does your company currently have a social media policy in place?
-
Sarah - To clarify, social media checks that are part of a pre-employment process do not involve someone's profile, photos etc. on LinkedIn or Facebook. The type of check we are considering goes beyond what the individual posts. For instance, it can uncover affiliations and participation in groups that are involved in illegal and/or discriminatory activities. It is not information that a quick "Google" would pick up - which is why we would not undertake such a check ourselves and would look to a reputable third party provider.
