The internet has become a integral part of our daily lives. It has become an extension of our personalities and can provide an insight into an individual’s psyche. Below are the top five reasons for using the social media as a quick background verification tool.
1. Social media sites such as LinkedIn provide an easy and quick way to verify a candidate’s professional background. They also allow HR manager to check on the references provided by the candidate’s co-workers. The credentials cited on LinkedIn would generally not be wildly off from the reality as the risk of openly claiming false credentials is very high. A LinkedIn profile consists of a person’s current and previous co-workers and hence any exaggeration by the candidate of his job responsibilities could lead to an immediate correction in form of posts on the candidates profile by his co-workers. Additionally, if a candidate has claimed a false employment, the administrator of the company page (if it exists on LinkedIn) can always flag the employment as incorrect.
2. Facebook provides the HR manager a peek into the candidate’s personal profile. It allows the HR manager to understand the candidate’s lifestyle and its compatibility with the job profile at hand. Facebook allows HR mangers to understand the company a candidate keeps, his preferences in terms of the groups he has joined, among others.
Facebook is one social media where people tend to express themselves without any inhibitions. A clear analysis of a person’s Facebook profile can allow for a clear assessment of his lifestyle.
3. The blogosphere can be searched to find articles, comments posted by the candidate being evaluated. This search helps the HR managers understand the candidate’s proficiency in his field of expertise by going through the articles the candidate may have posted on various blogs. It also allows for understanding the candidate’s thought process by going through the comments or feedbacks the candidate has posted on other blogs or forums.
4. The micro blogosphere such as Twitter can be used to understand the candidate’s other interests. This can be done by going through the candidate’s tweets posts and understanding the links or articles that he promotes via his Twitter account.
5. A Google Alert can be set for the candidate under scrutiny. This will allow any update about the candidate to flow into the HR managers email account and provide access to all the online updates that the candidates makes.
Social media can help the HR managers make the initial set of preliminary checks on the candidate. However the information gleaned from these networks is to be interpreted properly so that it is not taken out of context. The social media check can act as gateway for the initial set of interviews. However it is advised that a through offline background check is carried out before finalizing on an employee.
The internet has become a integral part of our daily lives. It has become an extension of our personalities and can provide an insight into an individual’s psyche. Below are the top five reasons for using the social media as a quick background verification tool.
1. Social media sites such as LinkedIn provide an easy and quick way to verify a candidate’s professional background. They also allow HR manager to check on the references provided by the candidate’s co-workers. The credentials cited on LinkedIn would generally not be wildly off from the reality as the risk of openly claiming false credentials is very high. A LinkedIn profile consists of a person’s current and previous co-workers and hence any exaggeration by the candidate of his job responsibilities could lead to an immediate correction in form of posts on the candidates profile by his co-workers. Additionally, if a candidate has claimed a false employment, the administrator of the company page (if it exists on LinkedIn) can always flag the employment as incorrect.
2. Facebook provides the HR manager a peek into the candidate’s personal profile. It allows the HR manager to understand the candidate’s lifestyle and its compatibility with the job profile at hand. Facebook allows HR mangers to understand the company a candidate keeps, his preferences in terms of the groups he has joined, among others.
Facebook is one social media where people tend to express themselves without any inhibitions. A clear analysis of a person’s Facebook profile can allow for a clear assessment of his lifestyle.
3. The blogosphere can be searched to find articles, comments posted by the candidate being evaluated. This search helps the HR managers understand the candidate’s proficiency in his field of expertise by going through the articles the candidate may have posted on various blogs. It also allows for understanding the candidate’s thought process by going through the comments or feedbacks the candidate has posted on other blogs or forums.
4. The micro blogosphere such as Twitter can be used to understand the candidate’s other interests. This can be done by going through the candidate’s tweets posts and understanding the links or articles that he promotes via his Twitter account.
5. A Google Alert can be set for the candidate under scrutiny. This will allow any update about the candidate to flow into the HR managers email account and provide access to all the online updates that the candidates makes.
Social media can help the HR managers make the initial set of preliminary checks on the candidate. However the information gleaned from these networks is to be interpreted properly so that it is not taken out of context. The social media check can act as gateway for the initial set of interviews. However it is advised that a through offline background check is carried out before finalizing on an employee.
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