Universities, research institutions, public K-12
schools, small businesses, large-scale corporations, nonprofit organizations,
and sole proprietors all hire employees, regardless of the industry they
compete in, their particular needs, endowments, and any other characteristic
imaginable. In the case of virtually every entity in the world, owners are
constantly in need of more laborers than themselves to successfully run their
operations.
Unfortunately, hiring new employees comes at a
premium. In 2016, the average hire cost
organizations in the United States of America slightly more than $4,000 -
$4,129, to be exact. That same year, online hiring giant Monster found that
small businesses expensed an alarming $1,872 on the average new hire.
If you screen applicants' social media presences,
you might not have to expend working capital on compensating an employee or
outside entity in doing so, although your time could potentially be better
spent elsewhere. Whether you delegate these responsibilities to an employee or
an independent, third-party organization, social media screening unarguably costs your organization money - even though browsing the
Internet is inherently free.
Let's look into several tips, strategies, tricks,
and guidelines you should follow in finding ideal candidates for your hiring
needs - put your popcorn up, and get the notebook out; you'll thank me later.
Take a broad profile of applicants' web presences
Some people post different things on various
social media pages, possibly due to the average age of various social
platforms. Facebook, for example. hosts around 25% of users
16-24 years of age. Twitter features 30% of its total users ranging between 16
and 24 years' old.
Most people that use multiple platforms find it
reasonable to assert that more parents, grandparents, and other "old
folks" use Facebook than Twitter. As such, if you only use Facebook to
collect information regarding applicants' social media behavior, their posts
might purposefully be censored, in efforts of keeping themselves out of trouble
from their parents, grandparents, and family members.
Make sure to use a wide variety of social media
platforms in forming opinions of applicants.
Browse applicants' profiles, but never ask for credentials to log in
Some employers - believe it or not - have been so
intrusive as to ask for applicants' email addresses, usernames, and passwords
in hopes of thoroughly screening their profiles, including private messages,
pokes, likes, and other things employers would otherwise never see without
obtaining their login credentials.
Asking for this information will undoubtedly
scare away a hefty proportion of applicants. Plus, even if they do share this
information with you, they're highly likely to delete, alter, and improve the
appearance of their social media profiles. It's recommended to disclose to
applicants during interviews that your organization plans on viewing their
pages, but never ask for their credentials.
It's OK to seek help from professionals in human resources
Consider reaching out for help from a
professional social media screening agency, like Fama. Whether you choose Fama
or another organization - or individual hiring consultant - to assist your
organization in searching social media for how suitable applicants would be in
working for you, seeking help is recommended for anybody that isn't well-versed
in the trials and tribulations of browsing applicants' social media presences
and actually making sense of what such observable data tells you.
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