2. When hiring, I check Twitter, Facebook and Google + to get more information on an applicant.
“It gives me a little more info about them but also shows me they are current with social media. I learn far more than I can in an interview. You can see who they really are, what they like, how they are with friends, etc. It has been an enormous benefit.”
– JR Griggs, President at Red Wall Marketing @jrgriggs
3. As a former recruiter, and current small business owner, I wouldn’t be without it.
“I have found very interesting things about people via social media, both positive and negative. As an avid user of social media myself, I promote authenticity on social media sites. Having a free tool that may help me find any immoral or criminal behavior of a candidate is highly important. On the flip side you may find out what an amazing person a potential hire may be.”
– Brooke Simmons, Owner at Green Door Virtual Solutions @VirtualCheetah
4. We use social media as a tool to screen candidates and [give us insight] into their personal values and priorities.
“By glancing at someone’s Facebook page you can get a good feel for who they are and how they might conduct themselves in a professional setting. Our company hires people who have great attitudes, are hardworking and passionate about what we do. When we see a correlation between a candidate’s social media profiles and how they interview, it provides comfort and insight we wouldn’t have had otherwise.”
– Stephanie Ciccarelli, Co-founder and Chief Marketing Officer at Voices.com @stephciccarelli
5. We absolutely use public social media information in HR screening, but would never pry into a candidates privacy.
“It is critically important for us to know how someone chooses to represent themselves on the Internet and if they know how to effectively (and do) utilize social media. It’s more of a character verification tool and works better than calling provided references. Also, we Google every person we interview to provide context and back story.
– Mahrinah von Schlegel, Managing Director at Cíbola @mlvs
6. We absolutely use social media to screen potential candidates because we don’t want irresponsible, drug and alcohol abusing employees.
[We don’t want to inadvertently hire] potential thieves or forgetful “pot smoking on-the-job” dog walkers and pet nannies. [Our] industry is based on trust and responsibility; as our employees have keys to client’s homes, access to their pets and are responsible for managing a tight schedule. A look into Facebook or Twitter update that mentions “wake and bake” could absolutely be a red flag for a non-desirable candidate.”
– Cynthia Okimoto, Founder and CEO at New York Dog Nanny, Inc. @newyorkdognanny
7. When you’re hiring at a startup, you’re shaping the culture of your company with every new hire.
“You owe it to your team to figure out what kind of person [a candidate] is and how they will impact the way you do business, work and play on a daily basis. That is not to say that we should breach constitutional rights of prospective employees (i.e. the practice of forcing job candidates to “friend you” or give you their password) — that is just plain wrong! However, I would follow them on Twitter, look at their public feeds and images because how someone presents themselves online is just as important as how they present themselves when they show up at your office.”
– Chris Maddern, CEO at AppLaunch @getapplaunch
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