CHICAGO, April 28, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Spending your
work day browsing social media? You're not the only one in the
office. According to CareerBuilder's annual social media
recruitment survey, 60 percent of employers use social networking
sites to research job candidates, up significantly from 52 percent
last year, 22 percent in 2008 and 11 percent in 2006, when the
survey was first conducted. Additionally, 59 percent of hiring
managers use search engines to research candidates – compared to 51
percent last year.
The national survey was conducted online by Harris Poll on
behalf of CareerBuilder between February 10
and March 17, 2016, and included a representative sample of
2,186 hiring managers and human resource professionals and 3,031
full time, US workers in the private sector across industries and
company sizes.
"Tools such as Facebook and Twitter enable employers to get a
glimpse of who candidates are outside the confines of a resume or
cover letter," said Rosemary
Haefner, chief human resources officer of CareerBuilder.
"And with more and more people using social media, it's not unusual
to see the usage for recruitment to grow as well."
Hiring managers in information technology and sales are the most
likely to use social networks to screen candidates; professional
and business services were least likely.
- IT: 76 percent
- Sales: 65 percent
- Financial services: 61 percent
- Health care: 59 percent
- Retail: 59 percent
- Manufacturing: 56 percent
- Professional and business services: 55 percent
Most hiring managers aren't intentionally looking for negatives.
Six in ten employers who currently use social networking sites to
research job candidates (60 percent) are "looking for information
that supports their qualifications for the job," according to the
survey. For some occupations, this could include a professional
portfolio. Fifty-three percent of these hiring managers want to see
if the candidate has a professional online persona, 30 percent want
to see what other people are posting about the candidate, and 21
percent admit they're looking for reasons not to hire the
candidate.
Why Can't We Be Friends?
There's a lot of buzz about the various ways social media
blunders can cost you a job, but that doesn't mean you should keep
your profiles completely private. More than two in five employers
(41 percent) say they are less likely to interview job candidates
if they are unable to find information about that person online — a
6 percent increase since last year.
Thirty-six percent of employers who screen via social networks
have requested to "be a friend" or follow candidates who have
private accounts. Of that group, 68 percent say they've been
granted permission – down from 80 percent last year.
Depending on what hiring managers find, candidates' online
information can help or hurt their odds of getting a job.
Forty-nine percent of hiring managers who screen candidates via
social networks said they've found information that caused them not
to hire a candidate – on par with last year 48 percent. The
following are the top pieces of content that turned off these
employers:
- Provocative or inappropriate photographs, videos or information
– 46 percent
- Information about candidate drinking or using drugs – 43
percent
- Discriminatory comments related to race, religion, gender, etc.
– 33 percent
- Candidate bad-mouthed previous company or fellow employee – 31
percent
- Poor communication skills – 29 percent
About one-third of employers who screen candidates via social
networks (32 percent), however, found information that caused them
to hire a candidate, including:
- Candidate's background information supported job qualifications
– 44 percent
- Candidate's site conveyed a professional image – 44
percent
- Candidate's personality came across as a good fit with company
culture – 43 percent
- Candidate was well-rounded, showed a wide range of interests –
40 percent
- Candidate had great communication skills – 36 percent
Anyone Can Be Screened or Screen
It's not just potential employees who should keep their digital
tracks clean. Forty-one percent of employers say they use social
networking sites to research current employees, nearly a third (32
percent) use search engines to check up on current employees, and
more than one in four (26 percent) have found content online that
has caused them to reprimand or fire an employee.
Further, a separate survey found that some savvy job seekers are
using social media to their own benefit. Nearly a fifth of workers
(18 percent) check out hiring managers on social media when job
hunting.
Survey Methodology
This survey was conducted online within the U.S. by Harris Poll
on behalf of CareerBuilder among 2,186 hiring and human resource
managers and 3,031 workers ages 18 and over (employed full-time,
not self-employed, non-government) between
February 10 and March 17, 2016 (percentages for some
questions are based on a subset, based on their responses to
certain questions). With pure probability samples of 2,186 and
3,031, one could say with a 95 percent probability that the overall
results have sampling errors of +/- 2.10 and +/- 1.78 percentage
points, respectively. Sampling error for data from sub-samples is
higher and varies.
About CareerBuilder®
As the global leader in human capital solutions, CareerBuilder
specializes in cutting-edge HR software as a service to help
companies with every step of the recruitment process from acquire
to hire. CareerBuilder works with top employers across industries,
providing job distribution, sourcing, workflow, CRM, data and
analytics in one pre-hire platform. It also operates leading job
sites around the world. Owned by TEGNA Inc. (NYSE: TGNA), Tribune
Media (NYSE: TRCO) and The McClatchy Company (NYSE: MNI),
CareerBuilder and its subsidiaries operate in the United States, Europe, South
America, Canada and
Asia. For more information, visit
www.careerbuilder.com.
Media Contact
Ladan
Nikravan
312.698.0538 x70538
ladan.nikravan@careerbuilder.com
http://www.twitter.com/CareerBuilderPR
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SOURCE CareerBuilder