Employment Selection Methods Through Social Networking Websites - Annotated Bibliography Example

Future Employment Selection Methods: Evaluating Social Networking Websites Abstract Many countries in the world continue to grapple with the high rates of employment occasioned by the rising populations and the global economic meltdown. Stiff competition for jobs has ensued. This has offered employers the opportunity to select only the very best employees. The information presented on applications letters and curriculum vitae (CVs) present the applicant’s credentials in the applicant’s point of view. This is misleading to HR because academic certificates and CVs do not provide the real personality of an applicant. Again, during job interviews, applicants will be in their best discipline, misleading employers on their true character. Potential employers look out for personal values as much as academic qualifications. Applicants would not be willing to reveal their true character as this may work against them. Social Networking web sites (SNWs) such as Facebook.com and MySpace.com provide a great resource for employers to glean this hidden information, On SNWs, applicants are uninhibited especially because the setting is informal and they are interacting with friends. Hidden negative traits such as foul language, nudism, alcoholism, religious extremism, racism, and so on come to the fore. Employers who manage to access this informal information can now gauge applicants in their true character. Conversely, however, this raises many concerns about invasion of personal privacy, misrepresentation, and discrimination based on religion, sexual orientation, and so on. In addition, employers face the risk of lawsuits. Byrnside, I. (2008). Six Clicks of Separation: The Legal ramifications of Employers Using Social Networking Sites to Research applicants. (2008). Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment and Technology Law. Vol 10. Pgs 445 -477. This article has resulted from a qualitative study of several online profiles of prospective employees, individual job interviews on university students by specific employers and research on the online behavior of employers. These include consultants such as Ana Homayoun (Byrnside (2008, p.3) who interviewed a student from Duke University, profiles of students from University of Texas, and so on. The Author Ian Byrnside is a Psychologist and law practitioner. Byrnside (2008, p.2) notes that on social networking web sites (SNW); applicants reveal huge amounts of personal information voluntarily. Again, SNW provide an easier and cheaper source of private data (p.453). Huge amounts of information are available to employers, with a Facebook population of 47 million users and MySpace 100 million users (p. 454). This information is useful for both hiring and firing decisions. Of particular interest is negative and antisocial behavior such as obscenity and drug abuse (p.3). Employers admit that they have eliminated applicants because of this negative information (p. 456). Byrnside (2008, p.456) states that already over 75% of employers use SNW to research job applicants. This may present legal conflicts in future stemming from the constitutional rights of self-expression exercised on the social sites, and the employers’ interest in quality employees (p.4). Again, this information may pose serious problems to employers. When an employer gains access to an applicant’s profile, the defense in ignorance evaporates, and this may expose the employer to serious discrimination lawsuits. The other problem is that SNW cannot guarantee employers about the identity and authenticity of information about applicants found on social media (p. 470). Previously, employers used legal methods such as interviews, background checks, credit checks, references, polygraph tests, medical tests, and drug tests, and so on to gather information about prospective employees. However, they were also not free from litigation based on laws such as the Civil Rights Act 1964, Employee polygraph Protection Act (EPPA) 1998, and Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) (p.5). Byrnside (2008, p.451) informs that employers can use criminal records in their decision-making process without risk, and credit records if the applicant’s consent to it. Employers must inform the applicant if the credit records evoked an unfavorable decision. There are even more complications because alcohol testing does not fall into the category of drug testing. It is a medical test (p. 452). Privacy is the greatest concern because employees feel that SNW activity constitutes off-duty activity, which should not be a concern of the employer (p.453). Byrnside (2008, p.461) argues that this is a misperception because the law does not prohibit employers from accessing this information. Again, it is the responsibility of the user to control who views their profile on SNW and not the responsibility of the SNW. In addition, SNW is on the Internet, a public domain, thus further weakening the privacy claim. In addition, the claim of violation of the terms of service is weak because users can share profiles depending on their privacy settings (p. 467). However, employers may be culpable if they used underhand tactics such as misrepresentation, impersonation, and so on. Discrimination becomes evident if SNW profiles revealed protected classes such as race, sex and disability (p. 464) as the basis for rejecting an applicant. On the other hand, SNW portend some benefits to users who use them properly. Byrnside (2008, p.457) argues that SNW provide a cheap medium for presenting professional information about an applicant. SNW build huge online visibility and credibility for the professional, and increases chances of becoming privy to open positions through a network of people. A professional online image may attract prospective employers (p. 458). Byrnside (2008, p.472) suggests that a probable solution may be to allow both the employer and the applicant to carry out their intentions fully. Users may enjoy their complete freedom of expression while denying employers total access. On the other hand, employers may enjoy full access to SNW while leaving applicants to make their choice on what kind of information they would like to have on the SNW. The later seems more favorable (p.474). Byrnside (2008, p.475) argues that SNW may not be such an effective tool because if an applicant does not have an SNW account, that does not mean that he or she is more virtuous. Again, SNW profiles may be misleading. Kluemper, D.H., Rosen, P.A. (2009). Future Employment Selection Methods: Evaluating Social networking web sites. Journal of Managerial Psychology. Vol 24. No. 6. The authors of this article are both university professors. Donald H. Kluemper is an Assistant Professor of Management at Louisiana State University. Peter A. Rosen is an Assistant Professor of Management Information Systems at the University of Evansville, Indiana. In their research, they sought to prove that employers’ access to SNW accounts is not necessarily a negative thing. It might also be beneficial to both employers and applicants. Kluemper et al (2009, p.568) puts the number of users on SNWs at a staggering 585 million, of which 248 million are on MySpace.com and 110 million are on FaceBook.com. While over 50% of employers admit to using information from SNWs, there is concern that most of this information is irrelevant to the job. The Equal Employment Opportunity law (EEO) outlaws use of race, religion, marital status, and sexual orientation in job selection, information that is readily available on SNWs. Employers should focus on the characteristics of an applicant that are relevant to the job such as personality, intelligence, and performance. Conscientiousness, agreeableness, extroversion, and neuroticism are pointers to good performance (p. 569). SNWs also provide more a valid and consistent behavioral pattern of an applicant as opposed to other methods such as job interviews where applicants present themselves in their optimum behavior (p. 570). Again, SNWs provide information that is more reliable because applicants cannot fake most aspects of their behavior such as having a large number of friends, kind of friends, information provided by friends such as tagged photos, interest groups, and so on. All these are pointers to their real personality. More importantly to the HR, frequent use of SNWs is an indicator of technology skills (p. 571). SNWs also reveal job experience, writing skills, knowledge, and so on (p. 571). A study carried out by 63 judges on SNW profiles (Kluemper et al (2009, p.573) revealed that using SNW information is a reliable method of identifying good organizationally relevant traits in an applicant (p. 575). In conclusion, Kluemper et al (2009, p.576) cautions organization against careless use of SNW as it could lead to a legal challenge on discrimination. Organizations must also confirm the validity of data found on SNWs profiles. Lory, B.E.H. (2010, September). Using Facebook to Assess Candidates During the Recruiting Process: Ethical Implications. National Association Of College and Employers Journal. Retrieved November 9, 2013, from https://www.class.umn.edu/crimson/dependancies /multimedia/Facebook_in_Hiring_Ethical_Implications.pdf The author of this article is Beth E Lory. She works for Minnesota University, the College of Liberal Arts. She is the lead Employer Relations Coordinator. In her research, she attempts to strike a balance between the negative and positive aspects of SNW data landing into an employer’s hands. Lory (2010, p. 37) explains that employers justify accessing applicants’ SNW profile in that it does the greater good to the society as it leads to hiring of superior employees. Again, SNWs are public forums, and users provide information voluntarily. She concedes that use of SNWs is unregulated by both the law and organization policies. She informs that a survey revealed that over 30% applications end up dismissed because of inappropriate SNW content such as sharing confidential information from a previous employer. Users on the other hand strongly condemn use of SNW data in hiring decisions, arguing that it is an invasion of their privacy as there is a sharp divide between their personal and professional lives. According to Lory (2010, p. 38), Microsoft advises users of SNWs to manage their online reputation, instead of condemning employers. Heeman, an attorney, says a poor profile is evidence of poor judgment. The photographs and other forms of expression on a profile depict the user’s image. Users must use strict privacy settings to control access to their accounts because the law currently does not restrict employers (p. 39). However, the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and discrimination laws could put employers on the spot, especially if they gather too much data or reject applicants based on some factors such as race and religion. The Employment Practices Data Protection Code outlaws use of data from “unreliable sources”. SNWs may constitute unreliable sources. According to Lory (2010, p. 38), interviewees from several universities feel that the use of SNW for job screening is unfair because applicants without SNW accounts escape this screening. On the other hand, psychologists feel that hacking and asking people to investigate other people is unethical practice. Lory (2010, p. 39) reports that several employers and consultant oppose the use of SNWs for the purposes of hiring because the personal life of an individual should not be exposed at the work place, and there is no clear policy on the use of SNW data in the hiring process. The policy of Facebook is that the user has full control on what they post on their profile and who has access to it. However, questions arise as to the legality of employers using this information without the user’s consent, employers’ access to information such as race, age, and an employer’s unfair demand to become an online ‘friend’ so on. Hooker, L., Rathke, B. (2013). Facebook Used as a Recruiting Tool. Journal of Student Research. Retrieved November 10, 2013, from http://minds.wisconsin.edu/bitstream /handle/1793/53252/FacebookRecruitingTool.pdf? Sequence=1 The author’s, Hooker L. and Rathke B. are both students at the University of Wisconsin-Stout. In their research, they sought to expose the need for applicants to polish their their SNW accounts because its content affects job application outcomes. Hooker et al (2013, p.2) informs that job applicants do not have to worry about their education level and job experience only, but also their SNW profiles. It is unfortunate that a large number of profiles depict negative traits such as sexual activity (20%), nudism (25%) and foul language (50%) (p.3). A research (p.3) revealed that applicants whose SNW profiles showed family responsibility would get managerial positions as opposed to ones that revealed alcoholism. In addition, Professional profiles attracted a higher pay. In fact, applicants with a negative SNW profile may not even get the opportunity for a job interview. Hooker et al (2013, p.4) exposes gender differences in SNW profiles when she explains that males expose more risky information, and females show greater concern about their SNW content. In her research on 36 participants, 17 males and 19 females, Hooker et al (2013, p.6) found out those employers favored applicants with a professional SNW profiles to the ones with a poor profile. She also noticed that employers did not discriminate based on gender. Surprisingly, the research also revealed that employers might prefer males to females irrespective of the professionalism of the SNW profile. Comparison of the Articles Byrnside’s articles addresses the legal issues that face employers who may use information gleaned from SNW profiles. His research targeted university students and prospective employers. The article seeks to inform employers on the risks of using SNW data in employment decisions. Specifically, the article addresses the aspect of invasion of an applicant’s privacy. It looks at how employment decisions may evoke discrimination lawsuits and how background checks on applicants may contravene the FCRA. It informs how exposure of SNW data may become an act of defamation. The article also addresses how employers may be answerable for violation of the terms of service outlined by the SNWs. In addition, the article depicts how the perusal of extensive data found on SNW profiles may work against them in a court. Finally, it exposes the risk of mistaken identity and the tricky part of confirming the validity of data found on SNW profiles. Kluemper et al’s article addresses the aspects of SNW data that employers should concentrate on. His research involved 63 judges (job panel participants) evaluating 6 subjects. The purpose of the research was to determine that SNW data does indeed reveal personality traits reliably. He informs that employer’s may avoid litigation by concentrating on applicants’ SNW data that is relevant to the job, focusing on personality, intelligence, and performance. The research revealed consistency among the 63 raters and confirmed that SNW data is a good source of personal traits. Unlike Byrnside, Kluemper et al does not delve into the legal matters. His study seems to suggest that SNW screening is good for employers, especially if they concentrate on the data that is relevant to the job. Lory’s article explores the ethical aspects of SNW profile screening. She concentrated her research on university students, career professionals and psychologists. Unlike Byrnside, Lory addresses both applicants and employers. She explores both the aspirations of employers and the feelings of applicants. Lory explains that the law does not restrict employers so it is the applicants’ responsibility to ensure their profiles represent them positively. Lory exposes the grim reality of applicants who fail to polish their online image in the hope that the law may discourage employers from investigating their ‘personal’ SNW profile. However, Lory shares them same view as Byrnside on legal implications stating that employers face the risk of contravening the FCRA on aspects of discrimination. She also agrees with Byrnside on employer’s violation of the terms of service. Hooker et al’s article underlines the practicability of using Facebook as a tool for recruiting new employees. Her research performed on 36 subjects, 19 of whom were women, sought to determine the impact of a professional profile and the gender factor on employers’ hiring decisions. Her article agrees with Byrnside’s article on many aspects. However, despite the fact that Byrnside cautions employer’s on their expose to litigation, she argues that employers still insist on using SNW profiles to evaluate applicants. Hooker supports Kluemper’s approach because SNWs expose personality traits that help employers in the decision-making process. Conclusion It is evident that for as long as laws and policies that control the use of social media in the employment process do not exist, employers will continue to screen applicants using their SNW profiles. The most important thing for them is to avoid actions that may land them in legal problems such as discrimination, defamation and so on. From these studies, employers who screen with utmost care face minimum risk of litigation. In fact, so far there has been no legal suit. On the other hand, users of SNWs and especially job seekers must take it upon themselves to remove all information that soils their online image. However, the status quo may not survive much longer. As the use of the Internet grows, and more people become aware of their rights, there is bound to be some legal battles in the near future. This may result in the enactment of laws to control the use of SNWs in employment. Read More