CHICAGO and ATLANTA , June 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Before posting pictures of your late-night revelry or complaints about your job
on social media, think again – 70 percent of employers use social media to screen candidates before hiring, up significantly from
60 percent last year and 11 percent in 2006.
The national survey was conducted online on behalf of CareerBuilder by Harris Poll between
February 16 and March 9, 2017. It included a representative sample of more than 2,300 hiring managers and human resource
professionals across industries and company sizes in the private sector.
"Most workers have some sort of online presence today– and more than half of employers won't hire those without one,"
said Rosemary Haefner, chief human resources officer at CareerBuilder. "This shows the importance
of cultivating a positive online persona. Job seekers should make their professional profiles visible online and ensure any
information that could negatively impact their job search is made private or removed."
What Are Employers Looking for?
Social recruiting is becoming a key part of HR departments – 3 in 10 employers (30 percent) have someone
dedicated to the task. When researching candidates for a job, employers who use social networking sites are looking for
information that supports their qualifications for the job (61 percent), if the candidate has a professional online persona (50
percent), what other people are posting about the candidates (37 percent) and for a reason not to hire a candidate (24
percent).
Employers aren't just looking at social media – 69 percent are using online search engines such as Google, Yahoo and
Bing to research candidates as well, compared to 59 percent last year.
Ponder Before You Post
Learn from those before you – more than half of employers (54 percent) have found content on social media
that caused them not to hire a candidate for an open role. Of those who decided not to hire a candidate based on their social
media profiles, the reasons included:
- Candidate posted provocative or inappropriate photographs, videos or information: 39 percent
- Candidate posted information about them drinking or using drugs: 38 percent
- Candidate had discriminatory comments related to race, gender, religion: 32 percent
- Candidate bad-mouthed their previous company or fellow employee: 30 percent
- Candidate lied about qualifications: 27 percent
- Candidate had poor communication skills: 27 percent
- Candidate was linked to criminal behavior: 26 percent
- Candidate shared confidential information from previous employers: 23 percent
- Candidate's screen name was unprofessional: 22 percent
- Candidate lied about an absence: 17 percent
- Candidate posted too frequently: 17 percent
Your online persona doesn't just have the potential to get you in trouble. Cultivating your presence online can also
lead to reward. More than 4 in 10 employers (44 percent) have found content on a social networking site that caused them to hire
the candidate. Among the primary reasons employers hired a candidate based on their social media profiles were candidate's
background information supported their professional qualifications (38 percent), great communication skills (37 percent), a
professional image (36 percent), and creativity (35 percent).
Don't Delete, Instead Police
Debating removing your social media profiles while job searching? Think twice before you hit delete.
Fifty-seven percent of employers are less likely to call someone in for an interview if they can't find a job candidate online.
Of that group, 36 percent like to gather more information before calling in a candidate for an interview, and 25 percent expect
candidates to have an online presence.
Got the Job? Stay Vigilant
Just because you got the job doesn't mean you can disregard what you post online. More than half of
employers (51 percent) use social media sites to research current employees. Thirty-four percent of employers have found content
online that caused them to reprimand or fire an employee.
Survey Methodology
This survey was conducted online within the U.S. by Harris Poll on behalf of CareerBuilder among 2,380
hiring and human resource managers (employed full-time, not self-employed, non-government) between
February 16 and March 9, 2017 (percentages for some questions are based on a subset, based on their responses to certain
questions). With a pure probability sample of 2,380, one could say with a 95 percent probability that the overall results have a
sampling error of +/- 2.01 percentage points. Sampling error for data from sub-samples is higher and varies.
About CareerBuilder®
CareerBuilder is a global, end-to-end human capital solutions company focused on helping employers find,
hire and manage great talent. Combining advertising, software and services, CareerBuilder leads the industry in recruiting
solutions, employment screening and human capital management. It also operates top job sites around the world. Owned by
TEGNA Inc. (NYSE:TGNA), Tribune Media (NYSE:TRCO) and McClatchy (NYSE:MNI), CareerBuilder and its subsidiaries operate in
the United States, Europe, Canada and Asia. For more information, visit www.careerbuilder.com .
Media Contact
Rachel Nauen
773-353-3803
Rachel.nauen@careerbuilder.com
http://www.twitter.com/CareerBuilderPR
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SOURCE CareerBuilder