Social Media Monitoring Server, Reppler, conducted a study recently and found that 91% 
of recruiters and hiring managers have visited a candidate’s social profile on Facebook, Linkedin or Twitter as part of the screening process. This figure is much higher than I suspected and it demonstrates the due diligence many recruiters are using in trying to find the best candidates. Maybe even more surprising is that 69% of those surveyed admitted to rejecting a candidate based on the content found on their social profile, while an almost equal number hired a candidate based on their positive social presence.
Here are the top reasons why a candidate was rejected and ones to which all job seekers should pay attention.
- Lied about their qualifications
- Posted inappropriate photos/comments
- Posted negative comments about their previous employer
- Demonstrated poor communication skills
- Made discriminatory comments
- Posted content of themselves using drugs
With competition for jobs so intense, don’t many of these blunders seem too obvious to make, or are job seekers underestimating the screening process of the companies to which they’re applying?
I’ll admit that I didn’t realize so many managers were reviewing these sites, but a candidate has to understand that a search of their social profiles could happen and that pictures of them partying at the local watering hole are not going to paint the flattering image of a good employee.
Candidates need to be conscious of the fact that their profiles are not off limits to everyone but their friends. Your profile is a glimpse into your private life or rather the real you, not the dedicated, hardworking employee you portray during the face-to-face interview. You may look great on paper, in a video interview, or even in person but if company XYZ has a choice between choosing a guy whose Facebook pictures show him crossing the finish line of a 15K or you crashing through a pyramid of beer cans, which job candidate is going to get the job, much less the interview?
So in looking at the top reasons above the moral of this story is simple. Don’t lie, don’t bad mouth your past employer, don’t do drugs, and for heaven’s sake, curb your racist tendencies or better yet just don’t be a racist at all! Or at least don’t advertise it on the internet.
