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Social media disqualified candidates, more than a third of HR pros say

January 11, 2016

More than one-third of companies have disqualified a job candidate in the past year because of concerns about information found on public social media or an online search, according to a survey released by the Society for Human Resource Management.

Candidates were disqualified for illegal activity and discrepancies with job applications, among other reasons. However, 39% of survey participants also allowed those candidates to explain any concerning information, an increase of 13 percentage points compared to 2011. 
“Social media is another way recruiters verify applicants’ employment history and ensure that they are still viable applicants,” said Evren Esen, director of survey programs at SHRM. “Social media is here to stay, so employers and employees are utilizing it in various ways throughout the job search process.”

Additional survey results include:

  • More than one-third of organizations have taken steps to leverage mobile recruiting — to target smartphone users.
  • Recruiting via social media is growing with 84% of organizations using it currently and 9% planning to use it.
  • Recruiting passive job candidates, 82%, continues to be the top reason that organizations use social media for recruitment.

Recruiting passive job candidates remains the top reason that organizations use social media for recruitment. Currently, 84% of organizations use social media to recruit and 9% plan to use it. 

The survey asked about job levels recruited via social media. Responses compared to prior years’ surveys include:

  • Nonmanagement, salaried: 87%, unchanged from 2013 and up from 82% in 2011
  • Management: 82%, up from 80% in 2013 and 77% in 2011
  • Nonmanagement, hourly employees: 55%, up from 48% in 2013 and 33% in 2011
  • Executive/upper management: 45%, up from 41% in 2013 and 39% in 2011

The survey included 410 HR professionals and was conducted from Nov. 19 to Dec. 4, 2015.