How Social Media Can Influence Hiring Decisions
Social media platforms (e.g., Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, etc.) are often thought to be part of a person’s personal life, rather that professional life. However, more and more employers are using social media as part of an applicants’ file and hiring decisions. The rationale behind this is that social media contains a great deal of information that is easily accessible and free to view. It also does not require that the applicant be present (like a job interview does). Another rationale is that employers often believe that social media is an honest reflection of applicants, that they are not able to see in interviews or resumes.
Despite this practice being so widespread, so much is unknown about the kinds of personal information that employers access and how exactly this information is used in the hiring process. Research in the Journal of Applied Psychology explored these questions by examining a sample of job applicants’ Facebook pages to see what kinds of information were presented and how this information is associated with recruiter evaluations.
The researchers found that job applicants tended to disclose information about themselves that employers were unable ask about in interviews (e.g., age, religion, marital status, etc.). Despite this, the research revealed that job applicants who were single were evaluated less favorably than those who were married or in a relationship, and those who displayed information about religion on their Facebook pages were rated less favorably than those who did not.
Further Facebook pages that contained information about negative behaviors (e.g., profanity, alcohol use, etc.) would typically not come up during an interview. However, these behaviors displayed on Facebook pages were related to lower recruiter evaluations. In contrast, job-relevant information (e.g., education, work-related training/skills, written communication skills) were also displayed on Facebook pages. This type of information was associated with better evaluations.
The researchers also examined the relationship between Facebook pages and actual job performance and intention to leave the job. The results revealed that applicants’ Facebook pages were not a significant predictor of future job performance or intention to leave the job. Therefore, the evaluation of social media profiles did not lead to better predictive evaluations.
Zhang, L., Van Iddekinge, C. H., Arnold, J. D., Roth, P. L., Lievens, F., Lanivich, S. E., & Jordan, S. L. (2020). What’s on job seekers’ social media sites? A content analysis and effects of structure on recruiter judgments and predictive validity. Journal of Applied Psychology. Advance online publication.
