Not sure if it's just me but I can't seem to get the image any bigger even if I click on it. Though, before even seeing the info., I'm wondering how the survey was carried out and who performed it. How did this study go about choosing who to survey and whatnot.
Thats a great infographic, I wrote about something similar to this in a comment to a fellow students blog. My uncle manages a major oil and gas pipeline company, and he uses social medias to monitor and screen employees. He says its a great tool for weeding people out, but he has never mentioned hiring someone based on his findings. I will have to ask him about that.
Long Tran, If you click on the photo it will open but not enlarge. At the bottom left there should be a link to the photo and there you can click on it and it will open in a new window where you can zoom in.
This is very interesting! I like the statistics! It's kinda scary that anything you do or say on the internet can make or break your future! I bet a lot of young people don't think of this when uploading their weekend photos or posting comments on their friend's page.
Wow that is eye opening! More potential employers use Facebook to screen applicants than use Linked In! It is also interesting that just about an equal percentage of employers have hired or dismissed an applicant because of what they saw on their Facebook page - definitely better keep the Facebook profile professional!
Scary! Haha, it makes me skeptical about my privacy settings! I feel as though they shouldn't be able to find me or see any of my posts but maybe the people that they were looking at had no privacy settings? I feel as though it might be a little bit unfair and judgmental to decided whether or not one is good for the job by simply 'creeping' a profile. I mean sure, if there are racist comments then that is alright. But just because there might be a few drinking photos doesn't mean that it is necessarily irresponsible drinking?? I feel as though some pictures could get taken out of context. Thoughts?
Completely agree with you, Kelsey. I don't think employers should screen potential employees as well as current employees based on Facebook or something similar. If the employee is competent at work and performs their tasks well then it would be completely ridiculous to not hire or fire someone based on what they do in THEIR OWN time so long as it's not illegal or defaming the company name. Suppose an employee lists their current employer but has lots of partying pictures then maybe just ask said employee to remove that bit of info from their profile.
I was very surprised to see these statistics. It says the study surveyed 300 hiring professional. I wonder which field of work these hiring professionals were from, and if certain industries were more likely to check social networking sites before hiring than others. I understand why a company may want to check out their employee before hiring to have a better insight on their personality. I believe that social networking sites such as facebook are beginning to take down the barrier between work and personal life. Perhaps these stats will make everyone check twice to see what their privacy settings are at.
I never thought that social media can play such an important role in job screening. Not only do candidates use networking sites to screen prospective jobs, but also the employees use social media sites to decide whether they hire the candidates or not. I think the social media can show a lot of thins about a person. For example, what your personality is like or whether you had lied about your qualifications. However, since things on the Internet will not always be correct, it is better for the employees to use social media as a consult.
Wow, that's actually pretty interesting. I had no idea that employers were really that thorough when it comes to hiring people that they even check the social networking sites used. (Although, it does kind of make sense considering you can find basically anyone on Facebook as long as you have their full name). I'll definetely keep this in mind!
I think this is an important message to be passed on to others. Whether you like it or not there are ways for employeers to find you on the internet so just be aware of it. Keep your facebook as professional as possible, and remember it's not only the photos to be careful of but also the things you say!
After reading this, I'm sort of tempted to sift through my Tweets and delete all the ones I tweeted as jokes or for fun with my friends. Do employers seriously take social media this seriously? Like Kelsey MacDonald, I think it's unfair for employers to judge us solely on our online profile. Give us a chance, we are people after all and sometimes we like being/trying to be funny. Also, lots of students drink and party… it's normal.
I found the statistics very surprising. It was reassuring to see that the majority of employers surveyed did not just use social network sites to negatively influence their hiring choice. They can also be swayed towards hiring a person if they see positive aspects during their social networking screen. I noticed that the number one reason employers had for rejecting candidates was for a person lying about their qualifications, which makes perfect sense. I agree that the social networking screen is not completely fair; we do have to have some fun in life and we can’t take ourselves too seriously. I can also understand though, that for highly competitive jobs, it is difficult to narrow the field of candidates, and screening with social networks can be helpful with that.
These statistics are definitely not what I expected. I grew up in a small town, and there I learned that jobs are easy to get if you know someone, or that if anyone wants background information on you they can just ask around to friends and neighbors. Therefore, I did not think that as many people as the statistics state actually use the internet and social media networks to screen future employees. This information really reinforces the importance of the skills that we are learning in this class!
I find this image interesting, but not surprising.. With the advance and increased usage of social media these days, it wouldn't surprise me if a prospective employer was like "hey! since I'm on facebook anyways, I wonder if this candidate has one..." Although, it makes me think whether these people had privacy settings on. I mean, I've restricted my facebook to the fullest to only friends, so to be negative in a sense, if you have inappropriate data and got rejected because that information is available, it serves you right?
It's really nice to see this type of screening process/monitoring actually being used. I have a lot of friends who are either in education (student teaching) or have just graduated from education and they have definitely restricted what is posted on social media sites, such as Facebook, to ensure employers, students, and even parents do not see misleading information. I am very 'for' this type of screening process and I think it's a huge eye opener for some who think no one can ever find what they had once posted online and later removed. There is a way for people to find that sort of information and you never know how that will impact your life/future career in this case. Very useful post!
Wow! I had no idea how many employers used social media as a form of screening process when hiring individuals. I obviously new that some human resource people would check into a candidate by searching them on social media, but I didn’t think that it was as high as 91%. I understand why employers would do this, however I believe that these sites may be misleading. If an applicant has a successful resume, they should still be brought into an interview and not be pre-judged based on what employers see on these social media sites. My Facebook and Twitter accounts have privacy settings, but as Lida mentioned “you never know how that will impact your life/future career in this case,” since people may still be able to find information about you. However, it was nice to see that these social media sites can be beneficial to becoming hired as well. That shows just how important the skills that we are learning in this class can be for obtaining a career in the future, such as the e-resumes on Facebook and Twitter to connect/network with potential employers.
I would be interested to know which employers this study surveyed and if this is representative sample of employers across all areas (research, industry, etc.). Regardless, I was surprised that Facebook profiles were used more frequently than other social media sites to screen candidates. That Facebook page may just be the ticket to a successful job application!
This infographic makes me realize how in touch today's employers really are and demonstrates that how you present yourself online can truly have an impact on how you are perceived in the real world.
It is a hard line to walk, trying to keep a professional appearance online while still maintaining your "freedom of speech" and being yourself. Everyone acts differently in the office than they do in their living room, and I would venture to say that the same applies to your online presentation of yourself (videos you post on your wall may not be videos you show to your boss).
One way to deal with this issue would be to ensure that your personal social networking profiles are tightly restricted in terms of who is allowed to view them. An option could be to increase your Facebook and Twitter privacy settings or only make these profiles available to people you actually invite to see them. Having separate, "professional" means of online communication (LinkedIn, Facebook "pages", a Twitter feed dedicated to your field of research, etc) that are more open to the public might be a good choice for those looking to make a good online impression to potential employers.
Either way, it is important to realize that what you put on line is permanent, accessible, and impactful both in terms of your personal life and your career path.
I had a great Ales work week. I spent a lot of time working on my CV and blogging about it. Many people spend a lot of time perfecting their CV's, trying to get across how they want to be perceived in a future employees eyes. It is so interesting to me that while people spend this time altering their CV's to fit what employers want, now, all employers have to do is take glance at persons facebook to find out if they are hire-worthy. Employers are using social media sites like facebook as a tool to find out more about people on a personal level before they hire them. This shows me that now, it is harder than ever to separate your personal life from your professional life. I am happy to be aware of this fact as I enter the more professional part of my life. I think the only way to keep your control over what employers know about you is to either keep strict privacy settings on your personal facebook, or limit anything personal online altogether.
At first glance I didn't really find this that interesting because at my last job my boss use to tell me she would look at future employees Facebook profiles before hiring them. I did however find it interesting the reasons why and why not to hire the person. I think this is where making a professional page or profile on Facebook would be a really good idea, because you could privatize your personal profile while having a online resume - yes, exactly what we did in class. I think people could benefit because when a future employer looks them up online they will see the professional profile and with appropriate pictures and interests could get a understanding of the person you are. But on that note I still am a little stunned employers do use Facebook as a sort of reference for hiring staff.
I think potential employers should not use Facebook to screen applicants in order to know how or what the employee is like and does. I think everyone has a professional and personal life and they are both totally different from each other. one cannot judge someone`s efficiency at work just by looking at their facebook profile images etc. and if employers do check facebook of potential employees than you should strict privacy settings so that no can see anything.
I'm not surprised at all that employers use social media in order to screen applicants. I can't say I agree with it but it's something you can't get away from. I have very strong security settings on my Facebook profile even though I don't have any information that would be incriminating on it. I know there are ways for employers to get around those security settings though and that is what worries me most. I think if people don't want their information to be seen by the world they should have that choice. I think that if employers want to check out their applicants they should stick to social media used for business. It doesn't seem fair to judge based on a personal Facebook profile. How does the employer know they're not seeing something from 3 years ago and that person has changed since those pictures of their drinking and partying days?
I was quite surprised to see that it said 91% of them used a social networking site to screen future employees. I think this number is slightly inflated due to their small sampling base of 300 people all from the same company. This company could be an internet savvy group, or a website company or such, which may increase their usage of the internet. However, I believe if the general population was surveyed, across all industries, the number would be substantially lower. Especially with most people having privacy settings on their Facebook profiles, the search may not be as successful as hoped.
I am interested that a few of you don't like the idea of potential employers screening potential employees using Facebook...it shouldn't matter, should it, if our PUBLIC FB presence is "professional"? Right? As long as we maintain our privacy settings and *allow* people outside our network to see our names and other pertinent information, it shouldn't matter...because our private photos and conversations should be accessible only to our friends in our network. Just as Lisa said, as we did in class - have a professional side and a personal side.
Really interesting to see that employers are checking out Facebook as part of their hiring process! Our class exercise was quite useful in introducing us to the professional Facebook page, in addition to our personal page. And yes, having appropriate settings in place would be important in this case. I think it's obvious, based on these stats, that our online presence is only going to become more apart of our professional lives. I have already seen the impact of Facebook in the workplace, and it's definitely crucial to keep in mind 'who' is seeing 'what'.
It's exciting to see companies are actually using these mediums. I always new that party pictures and offensive status updates could cost you a potential job as during background checks. It wasn't until this class that I realized the upper hand personal marketing via social media could provide. I will likely keep my proffesional facebook page and add to it as my experience grows.
Wow. This goes to show how important your privacy settings are. I do not think this is a good idea for businesses to be searching potential employees on the internet. Everyone has the freedom of speech and their chances of getting a job should not be affected by them seeing a post like 'got so shmammered last night'. For years people have established a distinction between their personal lives and professional lives. Unless you are in the spotlight 24/7 I think employers should stay away from googling their employees and checking their facebook. There are too many possibilities for misunderstandings. Similar to one guy who didn't get a job because his facebook profile picture showed him shooting with a high tech gun. The employers didn't know that it was from a charity event to raise money for those injured in SWATT. (I believe that was the story, I can't fully remember the details.) So I think that's a huge negative when dealing with employers using social media to check potential employees.
@Long Tran, ya I agree dunno if it's biased survey, if most of the companies are surveyed are techno-savvy, well of course they would check out employee's social media accounts. I'm gonna just delete my accounts for ALL social MEDIA, maybe hahaha
This is one reason why I don't like social media that much. You have almost no privacy on-line. So why people love to join different kinds of social media and get their information known by others? Well, maybe there are not so many bad guys wanting to harm others, but no privacy is still an annoying thing. I use only one kind of social media ---MSN. It is necessary to keep in touch with others, but no need to expose your information to everyone.
I've heard that many potential employers will search the internet, specifically facebook, and to be honest, I don't blame them. Even though it may seem like you have no privacy, there shouldn't be inappropraite photos of someone on the internet in the first place. Facebook has privacy settings for a reason, all you need to do is set them so no one can access you page. That way if there are any mis-guided photos, you can ensure that employers will not see them.
Not sure if it's just me but I can't seem to get the image any bigger even if I click on it. Though, before even seeing the info., I'm wondering how the survey was carried out and who performed it. How did this study go about choosing who to survey and whatnot.
ReplyDeleteThats a great infographic, I wrote about something similar to this in a comment to a fellow students blog. My uncle manages a major oil and gas pipeline company, and he uses social medias to monitor and screen employees. He says its a great tool for weeding people out, but he has never mentioned hiring someone based on his findings. I will have to ask him about that.
ReplyDeleteLong Tran, If you click on the photo it will open but not enlarge. At the bottom left there should be a link to the photo and there you can click on it and it will open in a new window where you can zoom in.
ReplyDeleteThis is very interesting! I like the statistics! It's kinda scary that anything you do or say on the internet can make or break your future! I bet a lot of young people don't think of this when uploading their weekend photos or posting comments on their friend's page.
ReplyDeleteWow that is eye opening! More potential employers use Facebook to screen applicants than use Linked In! It is also interesting that just about an equal percentage of employers have hired or dismissed an applicant because of what they saw on their Facebook page - definitely better keep the Facebook profile professional!
ReplyDeleteScary! Haha, it makes me skeptical about my privacy settings! I feel as though they shouldn't be able to find me or see any of my posts but maybe the people that they were looking at had no privacy settings? I feel as though it might be a little bit unfair and judgmental to decided whether or not one is good for the job by simply 'creeping' a profile. I mean sure, if there are racist comments then that is alright. But just because there might be a few drinking photos doesn't mean that it is necessarily irresponsible drinking?? I feel as though some pictures could get taken out of context. Thoughts?
ReplyDeleteCompletely agree with you, Kelsey. I don't think employers should screen potential employees as well as current employees based on Facebook or something similar. If the employee is competent at work and performs their tasks well then it would be completely ridiculous to not hire or fire someone based on what they do in THEIR OWN time so long as it's not illegal or defaming the company name. Suppose an employee lists their current employer but has lots of partying pictures then maybe just ask said employee to remove that bit of info from their profile.
ReplyDeleteI was very surprised to see these statistics. It says the study surveyed 300 hiring professional. I wonder which field of work these hiring professionals were from, and if certain industries were more likely to check social networking sites before hiring than others. I understand why a company may want to check out their employee before hiring to have a better insight on their personality. I believe that social networking sites such as facebook are beginning to take down the barrier between work and personal life.
ReplyDeletePerhaps these stats will make everyone check twice to see what their privacy settings are at.
I never thought that social media can play such an important role in job screening. Not only do candidates use networking sites to screen prospective jobs, but also the employees use social media sites to decide whether they hire the candidates or not.
ReplyDeleteI think the social media can show a lot of thins about a person. For example, what your personality is like or whether you had lied about your qualifications. However, since things on the Internet will not always be correct, it is better for the employees to use social media as a consult.
Wow, that's actually pretty interesting. I had no idea that employers were really that thorough when it comes to hiring people that they even check the social networking sites used. (Although, it does kind of make sense considering you can find basically anyone on Facebook as long as you have their full name). I'll definetely keep this in mind!
ReplyDeleteI think this is an important message to be passed on to others. Whether you like it or not there are ways for employeers to find you on the internet so just be aware of it. Keep your facebook as professional as possible, and remember it's not only the photos to be careful of but also the things you say!
ReplyDeleteAfter reading this, I'm sort of tempted to sift through my Tweets and delete all the ones I tweeted as jokes or for fun with my friends. Do employers seriously take social media this seriously? Like Kelsey MacDonald, I think it's unfair for employers to judge us solely on our online profile. Give us a chance, we are people after all and sometimes we like being/trying to be funny. Also, lots of students drink and party… it's normal.
ReplyDeleteI found the statistics very surprising. It was reassuring to see that the majority of employers surveyed did not just use social network sites to negatively influence their hiring choice. They can also be swayed towards hiring a person if they see positive aspects during their social networking screen. I noticed that the number one reason employers had for rejecting candidates was for a person lying about their qualifications, which makes perfect sense. I agree that the social networking screen is not completely fair; we do have to have some fun in life and we can’t take ourselves too seriously. I can also understand though, that for highly competitive jobs, it is difficult to narrow the field of candidates, and screening with social networks can be helpful with that.
ReplyDeleteThese statistics are definitely not what I expected. I grew up in a small town, and there I learned that jobs are easy to get if you know someone, or that if anyone wants background information on you they can just ask around to friends and neighbors. Therefore, I did not think that as many people as the statistics state actually use the internet and social media networks to screen future employees. This information really reinforces the importance of the skills that we are learning in this class!
ReplyDeleteI find this image interesting, but not surprising.. With the advance and increased usage of social media these days, it wouldn't surprise me if a prospective employer was like "hey! since I'm on facebook anyways, I wonder if this candidate has one..." Although, it makes me think whether these people had privacy settings on. I mean, I've restricted my facebook to the fullest to only friends, so to be negative in a sense, if you have inappropriate data and got rejected because that information is available, it serves you right?
ReplyDeleteIt's really nice to see this type of screening process/monitoring actually being used. I have a lot of friends who are either in education (student teaching) or have just graduated from education and they have definitely restricted what is posted on social media sites, such as Facebook, to ensure employers, students, and even parents do not see misleading information. I am very 'for' this type of screening process and I think it's a huge eye opener for some who think no one can ever find what they had once posted online and later removed. There is a way for people to find that sort of information and you never know how that will impact your life/future career in this case. Very useful post!
ReplyDeleteWow! I had no idea how many employers used social media as a form of screening process when hiring individuals. I obviously new that some human resource people would check into a candidate by searching them on social media, but I didn’t think that it was as high as 91%. I understand why employers would do this, however I believe that these sites may be misleading. If an applicant has a successful resume, they should still be brought into an interview and not be pre-judged based on what employers see on these social media sites. My Facebook and Twitter accounts have privacy settings, but as Lida mentioned “you never know how that will impact your life/future career in this case,” since people may still be able to find information about you. However, it was nice to see that these social media sites can be beneficial to becoming hired as well. That shows just how important the skills that we are learning in this class can be for obtaining a career in the future, such as the e-resumes on Facebook and Twitter to connect/network with potential employers.
ReplyDeleteI would be interested to know which employers this study surveyed and if this is representative sample of employers across all areas (research, industry, etc.). Regardless, I was surprised that Facebook profiles were used more frequently than other social media sites to screen candidates. That Facebook page may just be the ticket to a successful job application!
ReplyDeleteThis infographic makes me realize how in touch today's employers really are and demonstrates that how you present yourself online can truly have an impact on how you are perceived in the real world.
ReplyDeleteIt is a hard line to walk, trying to keep a professional appearance online while still maintaining your "freedom of speech" and being yourself. Everyone acts differently in the office than they do in their living room, and I would venture to say that the same applies to your online presentation of yourself (videos you post on your wall may not be videos you show to your boss).
One way to deal with this issue would be to ensure that your personal social networking profiles are tightly restricted in terms of who is allowed to view them. An option could be to increase your Facebook and Twitter privacy settings or only make these profiles available to people you actually invite to see them. Having separate, "professional" means of online communication (LinkedIn, Facebook "pages", a Twitter feed dedicated to your field of research, etc) that are more open to the public might be a good choice for those looking to make a good online impression to potential employers.
Either way, it is important to realize that what you put on line is permanent, accessible, and impactful both in terms of your personal life and your career path.
I had a great Ales work week. I spent a lot of time working on my CV and blogging about it. Many people spend a lot of time perfecting their CV's, trying to get across how they want to be perceived in a future employees eyes. It is so interesting to me that while people spend this time altering their CV's to fit what employers want, now, all employers have to do is take glance at persons facebook to find out if they are hire-worthy. Employers are using social media sites like facebook as a tool to find out more about people on a personal level before they hire them. This shows me that now, it is harder than ever to separate your personal life from your professional life. I am happy to be aware of this fact as I enter the more professional part of my life. I think the only way to keep your control over what employers know about you is to either keep strict privacy settings on your personal facebook, or limit anything personal online altogether.
ReplyDeleteAt first glance I didn't really find this that interesting because at my last job my boss use to tell me she would look at future employees Facebook profiles before hiring them. I did however find it interesting the reasons why and why not to hire the person. I think this is where making a professional page or profile on Facebook would be a really good idea, because you could privatize your personal profile while having a online resume - yes, exactly what we did in class. I think people could benefit because when a future employer looks them up online they will see the professional profile and with appropriate pictures and interests could get a understanding of the person you are. But on that note I still am a little stunned employers do use Facebook as a sort of reference for hiring staff.
ReplyDeleteI think potential employers should not use Facebook to screen applicants in order to know how or what the employee is like and does. I think everyone has a professional and personal life and they are both totally different from each other. one cannot judge someone`s efficiency at work just by looking at their facebook profile images etc. and if employers do check facebook of potential employees than you should strict privacy settings so that no can see anything.
ReplyDeleteI'm not surprised at all that employers use social media in order to screen applicants. I can't say I agree with it but it's something you can't get away from. I have very strong security settings on my Facebook profile even though I don't have any information that would be incriminating on it. I know there are ways for employers to get around those security settings though and that is what worries me most. I think if people don't want their information to be seen by the world they should have that choice.
ReplyDeleteI think that if employers want to check out their applicants they should stick to social media used for business. It doesn't seem fair to judge based on a personal Facebook profile. How does the employer know they're not seeing something from 3 years ago and that person has changed since those pictures of their drinking and partying days?
I was quite surprised to see that it said 91% of them used a social networking site to screen future employees. I think this number is slightly inflated due to their small sampling base of 300 people all from the same company. This company could be an internet savvy group, or a website company or such, which may increase their usage of the internet. However, I believe if the general population was surveyed, across all industries, the number would be substantially lower. Especially with most people having privacy settings on their Facebook profiles, the search may not be as successful as hoped.
ReplyDeleteI am interested that a few of you don't like the idea of potential employers screening potential employees using Facebook...it shouldn't matter, should it, if our PUBLIC FB presence is "professional"? Right? As long as we maintain our privacy settings and *allow* people outside our network to see our names and other pertinent information, it shouldn't matter...because our private photos and conversations should be accessible only to our friends in our network. Just as Lisa said, as we did in class - have a professional side and a personal side.
ReplyDeleteReally interesting to see that employers are checking out Facebook as part of their hiring process! Our class exercise was quite useful in introducing us to the professional Facebook page, in addition to our personal page. And yes, having appropriate settings in place would be important in this case. I think it's obvious, based on these stats, that our online presence is only going to become more apart of our professional lives. I have already seen the impact of Facebook in the workplace, and it's definitely crucial to keep in mind 'who' is seeing 'what'.
ReplyDeleteIt's exciting to see companies are actually using these mediums. I always new that party pictures and offensive status updates could cost you a potential job as during background checks. It wasn't until this class that I realized the upper hand personal marketing via social media could provide. I will likely keep my proffesional facebook page and add to it as my experience grows.
ReplyDeleteWow. This goes to show how important your privacy settings are. I do not think this is a good idea for businesses to be searching potential employees on the internet. Everyone has the freedom of speech and their chances of getting a job should not be affected by them seeing a post like 'got so shmammered last night'. For years people have established a distinction between their personal lives and professional lives. Unless you are in the spotlight 24/7 I think employers should stay away from googling their employees and checking their facebook. There are too many possibilities for misunderstandings. Similar to one guy who didn't get a job because his facebook profile picture showed him shooting with a high tech gun. The employers didn't know that it was from a charity event to raise money for those injured in SWATT. (I believe that was the story, I can't fully remember the details.) So I think that's a huge negative when dealing with employers using social media to check potential employees.
ReplyDelete@Long Tran, ya I agree dunno if it's biased survey, if most of the companies are surveyed are techno-savvy, well of course they would check out employee's social media accounts. I'm gonna just delete my accounts for ALL social MEDIA, maybe hahaha
ReplyDeleteThis is one reason why I don't like social media that much. You have almost no privacy on-line. So why people love to join different kinds of social media and get their information known by others? Well, maybe there are not so many bad guys wanting to harm others, but no privacy is still an annoying thing. I use only one kind of social media ---MSN. It is necessary to keep in touch with others, but no need to expose your information to everyone.
ReplyDeleteI've heard that many potential employers will search the internet, specifically facebook, and to be honest, I don't blame them. Even though it may seem like you have no privacy, there shouldn't be inappropraite photos of someone on the internet in the first place. Facebook has privacy settings for a reason, all you need to do is set them so no one can access you page. That way if there are any mis-guided photos, you can ensure that employers will not see them.
ReplyDelete