HR Girl 4'11" Blog

Using Social Media to Qualify Instead of Disqualify Candidates

As mentioned in an earlier post, Social Media sites should be used in the character reference portion of the background checking phase once you have narrowed down your top 10 or 3 candidates for the position. Avoid using these sites as the only verifying source for your candidate's skills, education and abilities. This would be a smart choice.

Don't Do This Yet

If you are still a little uncertain about using social media, then give yourself a little time to adjust, because at the present moment, you may not be ready. Keep in mind, checking out your candidates' social networking pages may not be for you if:

1. If you want to control what your employees do in their personal time outside the workplace.
2. If you have an excessive need to check their pages for updates and conversations. And seek out to follow their friends and their conversations.
3. If they are a fan of a particular group that you don't agree with. Particularly racial, sexual, political, theoretical, or religious groups.
4. If you are prone to discriminate based on marital status, sexual orientation, race, and religion etc.
5. If you quiver at the fact that you get a chance to see the candidate prior to the interview.

Once you overcome these 5 obstacles, you are well on your way to forming a more open minded approach to screening and qualifying candidates without the threat of being discriminative or judgmental.

Qualify Your Candidates

Should you find a candidate who has a social presence, understand that this is a great benefit that adds on to their overall portfolio. However, you may have other strong candidates who do not have on online presence. In this case you will have to use professional judgment in order to determine who will be the best fit for your organization. 

Here are some qualifying factors for your candidates who use social media:

1. They are knowledgeable enough about technology.
2. They are willing to learn new things and adapt to the current economy in order to survive.
3. They are competitive and realize what it takes to be recognized.
4. They are fearless enough to interact with other professionals.
5. They are outgoing enough to build their network and join groups.

All of these things listed are indeed character based reasons. Therefore, and I state my case, that social networking sites should be used for character referencing purposes. Not as the one and only reason to disqualify candidate. I will discuss later how to Set Up Your Internal Guidelines for Using Social Networking Sites-Qualify Candidates.

Any thoughts?

Swiss Cheesed Candidate

Every cheese has a special taste and flavor which many will like, and some will disapprove. But is it necessary for the cheese to undergo a chewing session by the rat?

Going through an interview followed by a skills assessment is one thing. But undergoing a constant drilling session with a disapproving and doubtful person is another. The feeling of being picked apart by a hiring authority can be quite draining and very discouraging. 

Why are candidates made to feel worthless when they go into an organization seeking employment? The hiring authority should be aware of their attitude towards the candidates? Understandably so, they has alot work to do, and granted there is an overwhelming number of applicants out there to sort through. But keeping the needs of the organization in mind is critical.

What progress has been made if a candidate is treated poorly by a hiring party from an organization? Chances are, the candidates will go back and tell at least 10 other job seekers that the organization is bad news. It's foolish to think that it's ok to treat candidates with little dignity, putting them on the spot and making them fill out endless personality analysis questionaires, and everything shy of a blood sample. All of that, and they never get a single follow-up postcard or email stating a decision. Remember, the hiring process is also the place where an organization can brand themselves, for the good or for the bad.

Don't be the rat, who's primary job is eating away at and poking holes into the candidates. They have enough to deal with already than to have their time stolen and character attacked. When the economy does a 360, the rat will be starving for cheese, but the cheese will stand alone.

The " One "

 
At times searching for the right employee may seem a lot like the dating game. Just when you think a candidate is going to work out, they just don't. Nor do they have the skill sets they boasted about, nor do they have your organizational standards in mind. Often times, they just come along for the joy ride and jump ship as soon as they find something new, not necessarily better.  

There is no such thing as a floating or glowing candidate, who comes into your place of business, says all the right things and has the perfect combination of goals and qualifications. If you believe that, then you're certainly in la la land. To be honest, all of us are in search of "the one", but chances are you will have to do quite a bit of searching and networking to find the right person. And once you have hiring the ideal person for your team, then it will take a courting process in order to figure out if that person is in it for the long haul. In fact, that person may have a set of non-transferable skills or an attitude hotter than a truck load of lava that will lead you down a path of matrimonial torment. So don't set yourself up to get burned. 

So before you get wrapped up in all the beautiful and wonderful things an applicant has to say, do your research. Skills assessments are a great place to start. There are non-discriminatory ways of testing your candidates to make it even across the board. Try to avoid heavy psychological evaluations and constant computer tests that leaves your candidate exhausted from 3 hours of battery.

Secondly, you will want to verify their education and certifications, because there are over 30% of applicants who state that they have a degree when in fact, they do not. But go according to the needs of your organization; if degrees are a requirement or not.

And thirdly, verifying their prior place of employment. They may not be welcome in their last place of work, so be cautious. Their track record could consist of theft, insubordination and misconduct. In some states you can only ask closed ended questions, but you can always tell by the tone of verifing voice on the other line whether or not you have a winner. Happy hunting!! If you choose to outsource these functions, feel free to send me a request for services at yonica@ahrsolutions.com. Have a great day!