{"id":1581,"date":"2019-08-07T10:44:45","date_gmt":"2019-08-07T10:44:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/oculus-hr.co.uk\/?p=1581"},"modified":"2019-08-07T10:44:48","modified_gmt":"2019-08-07T10:44:48","slug":"social-media-background-checks-how-far-should-you-go","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/oculus-hr.co.uk\/blog\/advice\/social-media-background-checks-how-far-should-you-go\/","title":{"rendered":"Social media background checks \u2013 how far should you go?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>If you are carrying out social media background checks, how far should you go? Social media can be a great way of finding more out about a person and a valuable resource for employers. As well as reading candidates\u2019 CVs and conducting interviews, employers are now seeking out information from social media accounts as part of their recruiting process. However, as social media is being used more often to conduct background checks on potential employers, people are growing concerned about if this is a fair and just process. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We\u2019re looking at some of the pros and cons of social media\nbackground checks, posing the question, how far should you go? <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Advantages of using social\nmedia to conduct background checks <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Verification <\/strong><strong><\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p>Looking\nat a candidate\u2019s social accounts can verify many of the points they have shared\non their CV such as good communication skills and their work ethic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>See potential employees work <\/strong><strong><\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p>Depending\non the job role that is being applied for, you may be able to see examples of a\npotential candidates work through social media. For example, photography and\nwriting skills. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>LinkedIn provides an in-depth\nprofessional history <\/strong><strong><\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p>Finding\ncandidates LinkedIn profiles may give you a deeper understanding of their\nprofessional history. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Disadvantages of using social media to conduct background checks <\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Inconsistent checks <\/strong><strong><\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p>When\nlooking at multiple candidate\u2019s social media accounts, you\u2019re assessing each\nperson based on different information for the same job, which is essentially\nunfair. You may also find inconsistent information that is not a true\nreflection of the candidate\u2019s abilities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Privacy settings <\/strong><strong><\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p>Some\npeople have public profiles and others have private profiles so cannot be\nfairly assessed. Employers should never try to bypass privacy settings in any\nway. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>You may be looking at the wrong person <\/strong><strong><\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p>Unless\na candidate provides you with their social media profiles to look at, how do\nyou know you\u2019re assessing the correct person? <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If\nyou do choose to look at your applicant\u2019s social media profiles such as\nFacebook and Instagram, you need to ensure you know the legalities and ethical\nimplications it can have. Firstly, it is illegal to access information that is\nnot in the public domain and you shouldn\u2019t send a friend request to gain access\nto someone\u2019s profile. However, you are able to look at posts, images and videos\nsomeone has uploaded to public social medial profiles. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Discrimination\nduring the hiring process is also illegal, so if you do find a reason not to\nhire a candidate, you need to make sure you document your legitimate,\nnon-discriminatory reason. It is recommended you take screenshots and describe\nwhat you have found in detail in order to back up your decision making. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If\nyou want to discuss using social media background checks in more detail and how\nbest to recruit employees, please don\u2019t hesitate to <a href=\"https:\/\/oculus-hr.co.uk\/contact\/\">get in touch<\/a>. Here at Oculus HR, we\nprovide support and advice for a range of HR needs, ensuring your business is\ncompliant and effective. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If you are carrying out social media background checks, how far should you go? Social media can be a great way of finding more out about a person and a valuable resource for employers. As well as reading candidates\u2019 CVs and conducting interviews, employers are now seeking out information from social media accounts as part [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":1582,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[16,165,74,175,62,40,41,97,179,73,180,89,94,177,178],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Social media background checks \u2013 how far should you go? - Oculus HR<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Social media checks can be a useful tool when recruiting employees however there are pro&#039;s and con&#039;s for using this method.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/oculus-hr.co.uk\/blog\/advice\/social-media-background-checks-how-far-should-you-go\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Social media background checks \u2013 how far should you go? - Oculus HR\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Social media checks can be a useful tool when recruiting employees however there are pro&#039;s and con&#039;s for using this method.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/oculus-hr.co.uk\/blog\/advice\/social-media-background-checks-how-far-should-you-go\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Oculus HR\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/OculusHR\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-08-07T10:44:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-08-07T10:44:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/oculus-hr.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/william-iven-DfMMzzi3rmg-unsplash.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2048\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1360\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Debra Lumsden\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@OculusHR\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@OculusHR\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Debra Lumsden\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Social media background checks \u2013 how far should you go? 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