So you've narrowed down your choices of job candidates, and you are ready to bring them in for an interview. Perhaps you have already started the verification process, starting with Google. Now this is a powerful tool that crawls for information across many many websites. So if you're not ready to use it with discretion, then don't do this! Step away from the internet!
Before you set out on this Googling adventure, you must first figure out what it is that you are looking for. What's your purpose? Do you want to disqualify or qualify these candidates for this position?
If you don't know the answer to these questions, then it's time for you to set up your own guidelines. Why? Because there is a strong possibility that you will spend a bunch of unwarranted time surfing without knowing where the brake is.
Ok so here we go:
1.Determine what you are looking for, such as to verifying
education, experience, work history. Wondering
around aimlessly and finding information that may not belong to them, could cause
you to disqualify them for the wrong reason. So have a plan.
2. Decide which information is going
to be considered relevant. Understand
that you will view both their personal and professional histories, you can
choose to give them an opportunity to list the sites that they currently use
professionally in order to gather information that's relevant to the applied
position.
3. Based on the information found,
what will happen to that data? Will it be recorded including the source? You may beg to differ and say that you don't want to create
a paper trail. But contrarily, you will need to get a paper trail started in
the event that your company falls under an investigation for unfair hiring
practices. And if you are one of the employers who offer feedback to the
candidates who weren't selected, you would want to have legitimate information
available for them.
4. If the candidate has several
profiles, does the information match? If
they listed a GED on their resume, but a PhD posted on their profile, then
there may be a problem. A simple education verification will straighten
this issue out. Just remember, you are generally searching for accurate
information on their profiles.
5. Will their personal profile
outweigh their professional (more relevant) profile? If you knew this candidate used to live in Louisiana and
you saw that their picture was tagged amongst a crowd of people at Mardi Gras
(non flashing, with a Pepsi can in hand), would this be a negative impact on
their ability to do their job? Instead of using pictures as ammunition,
remember there may be more to the story than what the picture has shown.
6. Will there be a scoring system
for the number of groups, profiles, blogs, and network strength? You could set up a simple sheet that rates their profile
content, participation, and quality. Many candidates will have skills and
knowledge well above the allowance of their previous positions. Therefore this
candidate may be a great asset for your company.
7. What will be considered recent
activities? For both negative and positive
findings, you have to determine if 1 month or up to 10 years of history will be
considered as applicable to the job in which they are applying.
8. How many resources and medias
will be used in all to complete the checking process? Will you use the favorite 3 (LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook),
or will you search newspapers, magazines, and many other social sites? This
will be an easy answer if the candidate has already provided their site
addresses.
9. How much time are you going to dedicate per candidate? We know that the internet has an interesting way of making time disappear. Set your timer, after time has expired, move on to the next candidate.
Use these questions to establish your guidelines in writing and make sure that you follow them. Because you never know when you will be required to show proof of your screening processes and the basis of your hiring decisions.We never know if the law will make a shift in the near future to exclude the use of personal websites to make hiring and termination decisions. So it's important to cover your assets.
Any comments?


