E MPLOYERS & S OCIAL M EDIA How Your Public Persona Can Be Used in Hiring Decisions

I NTRODUCTION Social media use is pervasive with approximately 1/3 of U.S. adults visiting a social networking site each month 45% of employers are currently using social networking sites to research job candidates An additional 11% plan to start using these resources in the future Understanding how employers are using your public information is important for all social networking users

W HAT T YPE OF I NFORMATION C AN E MPLOYERS O BTAIN ? Level of information varies with each social networking outlet Facebook announced changes to their privacy policy on December 9, 2009 making the following information public and unable to be blocked using privacy settings: User Name Profile Picture Current City Gender Networks List of friends List of “Pages” Photo albums ** this only affected some users and can be manually changed in your privacy settings

S OCIAL N ETWORKING P ROFILES C AN H ELP G ET Y OU T HE J OB 18% of employers have found information on social networking sites that caused them to hire a candidate A 2009 CareerBuilder survey provided top reasons cited by employers for hiring based on information from social media sources: 50% - Profile provided good indication of candidates personality and fit 39% - Profile supported professional qualifications 38% - Candidate was creative 35% - Candidate showed good communication skills

B ENEFITS OF S OCIAL N ETWORKING I NFORMATION FOR E MPLOYERS Can help an employer determine if the employee is a good fit for their company Aids in the “weeding out” process of candidates Employers can broadcast opportunities with their companies to a directed audience Salesforce.com offers an application to companies to compile current employee’s friend lists into a database to search for job candidates

S OCIAL N ETWORKING P ROFILES C AN A LSO P REVENT Y OUR F ROM G ETTING T HE J OB Employers use information they have gathered from social media profiles to disqualify candidates for positions with their companies. A 2009 CareerBuilder survey provided top reasons cited by employers for disqualifying a candidate based on information from social media sources: 53% - Candidate posted provocative or inappropriate photographs or information 44% - Candidate posted content about them drinking or using drugs 35% - Candidate bad-mouthed their previous employer, co- workers or clients 29% - Candidate showed poor communication skills 26% - Candidate made discriminatory comments

C HALLENGES WITH U SING S OCIAL P ROFILE I NFORMATION IN H IRING D ECISIONS Social networking profile information does not always help assess a candidate’s ability to perform the job Information may be inaccurate Infringement of privacy rights? Online identity versus real identity – are they always the same Exposure to protected class information

L EGAL I MPLICATIONS OF U SING S OCIAL M EDIA IN H IRING D ECISIONS Employers can utilize all public information that does not infringe on federal, state, and local anti- discrimination laws Illegal drug use, alcohol use, discriminatory language/affiliations can all be legally used in hiring decisions Problem is that employers are exposed to protected and unprotected information while conducting their searches Use of social networking information can provide legal hazards for companies