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The article recently written by Kathy Kowalenko entitled “Beware: Recruiters are Screening You On Your Social Network Profiles” (See below) caused me to hesitate a little bit, and then compelled me to give you my two cents on how social networking has ‘hit the scene’ in our recruiting efforts to find top talent.
It is true that recruiters are now using social networking sites to do research on candidates prior to representing them on certain positions. In fact, I recently asked one of my candidates to please clean up the “F-Bombs” on his Facebook page because a few of my corporate clients are connected to me on Facebook and LinkedIn. It is true that social networking has done a great job at merging our personal and professional lives – for the good or for the bad.
I agree with Kathy’s reasons of why recruiters use social networking sites, but would like to add a few more reasons:
1) From a recruiter’s perspective, it is so much easier to represent somebody when you can put a face with a name. In this world of online recruiting, I represent people from all over the nation and don’t have the luxury to meet every candidate I represent in person. LinkedIn makes it easier for me to understand a candidate’s reputation (through posted references), see how active they are in their field (through groups they belong to) and put a face with a name, which is still important, even in 2010.
2) I used LinkedIn to show them who I am. I think it is important for people I represent to see who I am and what my resume looks like, too. Recommendations from others posted on my LinkedIn profile helps those candidates who might not have worked with me before see what others had to say.
3) I disagree with Kathy in that a LinkedIn picture is optional. I believe it is a must. After all, that is why it exists – to be able to ‘get to know’ or ‘network’ with people, right? So, please post your picture on LinkedIn. It doesn’t have to be an expensive, professional picture. Just stand up against a blank wall and have somebody click.
4) I also believe that the more you put in your LinkedIn profile, the better. I am not saying to cut and paste your entire resume, but all of that information allows us to get to know who you are and what you do more readily – and who wouldn’t want that for a headhunter representing you on your next career move?
5) Facebook is a different story. I agree that it is more of a personal, ‘backyard barbeque with friends and family’ type site. However, Facebook has privacy settings that will allow you to remain private, if that is what you choose. In my opinion, Facebook is not near as prevalent in the ‘research’ part of a recruiter’s world and certainly isn’t the first place we go to find out the scoop. Although, if you invite us to ‘be your friend’ please know that the door you opened will be looked into.
Snooping yourself and the people you are interviewing with is a really great idea. Have you ever typed your name into Google? I will tell you that there is a great interior decorator in Michigan named Jill Knittel. There is also an equestrian champion with my same name in the Midwest, so I certainly practice what I preach. In this day and age, your ‘professional image’ and your ‘internet image’ are one and the same. Keep grooming both of them to put your best foot forward for your career success!
Beware: Recruiters Are Screening You On Your Social Network Profiles
BY KATHY KOWALENKO
Not only are Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter popular ways for friends and colleagues to stay in touch, but they also are becoming employers’ favorite tools for recruiting and screening job candidates. And that can lead to undesirable consequences.
To help ensure photos of your wild weekend antics or a video of a profane rant about a former employer won’t cost you a new job, IEEE-USA recently sponsored a webinar titled “Snooping Employers: How Employers Get Background Information on You Prior to the Interview."Elizabeth Lions, a career coach who specializes in working with engineers, presented the hour-long session in November, and it is now available for free. Lions has spent the bulk of her career as a headhunter and has met with thousands of employers as well as candidates. She is the author of Recession Proof Yourself! [Aardvark, 2009], a book on how to find a job during an economic downturn.
With so many companies now surfing the Web to ferret out personal details about would-be employees, “the days of ‘what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas’ are over,” Lions told nearly 60 webinar attendees. “What happens in Vegas now stays on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.”
WHY EMPLOYERS PRY
Lions covered the reasons why employers use social networking sites, provided some dos and don’ts about what to put on your own Web pages, and went over ways to use social media to your advantage to best market your skills in a down economy. In tough economic times, companies look to reduce their costs when vetting candidates and turn to social media sites to find talent. Not only is it inexpensive, she points out but, “It’s a quick way to find people without posting an ad on job sites such as Monster.com, HotJobs, or CareerBuilder,” she says. “The social sites are also a quick and cheap way to get background information on people without tying up time and resources.”
Finding qualified candidates can be as easy as searching LinkedIn for specific skills in a particular city, and sending them an e-mail. Vetting candidates who have applied is simple, too. A quick search will reveal tenure, skill set, and education. It is not uncommon for Human Resource managers to take a few minutes to type in your name on Facebook, LinkedIn, or Twitter to review your profile and related information—career as well as personal. Seventy-nine percent of the 60 people who sat in on Lions’s original webinar were listed on LinkedIn, and 21 percent were on Facebook.
“LinkedIn will reveal a lot of interesting information about job candidates,” Lions says. “There are pictures, details about where they went to school, and whether they’re from the Midwest, the West Coast, or the East Coast. These details give a snapshot of who they are from a cultural standpoint. Instantly, I know a lot about you without ever picking up the phone.”
If the candidate’s personal profile shows him or her exhibiting what an organization considers to be undesirable behavior, there probably will never even be a job interview—without the candidate suspecting that they are screened out of the process. This quick, inexpensive research saves an employer the time and expense of running drug tests and credit and background checks, Lions says.
SOCIAL AWARENESS
The potential pitfalls should not dissuade you from having an online presence, she says. “Working or not, you should have a LinkedIn profile. It’s your opportunity to show off your professional credentials, and it makes you current with the times,” she adds. Putting a picture on your profile is optional, but if you decide to do that, professional photos are best. Don’t post any photos that show your children or ones that depict you hiking, biking, or skiing, for example. Save those images for Facebook, which Lions compares to a “backyard barbecue with friends and family.”
Less is more on LinkedIn, so post a brief description of your career, your job title, the industry you’re in, your skill set, your expertise, years of experience, education, and certifications. But don’t clutter the profile with a lot of technical details or jargon. Use your résumé as a guide but don’t post it in its entirety.
“Think of your profile as your calling card or an extended business card,” Lions suggests. “It should be a big, broad brushstroke so that everybody—especially someone in Human Resources—can in 15 seconds or less understand what you do. Don’t make it too long, or people won’t read the whole thing. You want to grab them, and hold them.”
Make sure all your online profiles are consistent, so that potential employers can see the same information. Lastly, don’t post anything that might be considered offensive. “Employers will make a judgment on whatever you put out there, and they are going to make a conclusion,” she cautions.
SNOOP YOURSELF
If you’re about to be interviewed, do some detective work first and check the company’s Web site to become familiar with the organization and, if possible, the people you’ll be meeting. Know the basics such as what the company does, its revenue, and the number of employees. Try to find out as much as you can about the people you expect to interview you, including their job descriptions and where they went to school. “You need to understand the pecking order of who is in the room, because you want to balance the scales,” Lions says, adding, “If they can research you, you can research them.” |