In today's generation, social media is the center of mass communication and distribution of information. People from all over the world are on at lest one social network and companies have taken a notice to the growing trend. The number of profiles are astounding; Facebook has over 901 million users, Twitter has over 555 million, and Google+ has over 170 million. Companies have jumped on the social network bandwagon as well by creating a social network of its own. LinkedIn is essentially a networking website focused on companies being able to sort through adequate people for the job they're looking to fill, and currently has over 150 million active profiles. As a user on LinkedIn, it helps you by raising your awareness of opportunities on the job market, build professional networks, and getting found by possible employers. Employers are on social networks to getting understanding of the employee they are looking to hire. Employers want to know they are making a good investment in hiring the candidate thus looking at their profiles gives them a better sense of who the individual is behind closed doors. According to a Time Business article, a company that provides applicant tracking software, shows that 92% of employers are using or planning to use social networks for recruiting this year, which is up from 82% last year. For recruiting purposes many companies are now advising future applicants to be careful of the things they post on the social networks. According to Ezine articles,, 70% of surveyed HR workers in the U.S. admitted to rejecting a job applicant because of his or her internet behavior. For the most part, these "internet behaviors" refer to the posting of inappropriate photos and content on social networking sites. Social networking sites are no longer just for personal use, but are now being used a judgmental tool. Although many are saying it is not right for companies to fish on networking sites because it could be used as a source of discrimination and not giving an equal opportunity where it's due. Due to the economies tough time, companies are just wanting to get the best of their investment and want people who are going to set a proper company image. So remember, be aware of social networks, its all fun and games until it's the reason you didn't get hired.
1. Should Human Resources use social networks as a tool of hiring?
2. Are social networks a good source of judging an applicant prior to meeting them? Is it discriminative?
