Over the past few years since the invention of the World Wide Web (www), advances in technology have had an impact on every aspect of life in the present century. The internet enables people to share information across the globe, and emerging technologies such as the social media have redefined mass communication in many organizations and also outside the workplace context. Social media sites such as LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter have also created a significant communication shift that results in increased connectivity around the world (Collmus et al., 2016). Social media have also influenced the employment process as the new technology affects the recruitment process by improving the scope of job advertising and even employee screening and selection (Van Iddekinge et al., 2016). However, the invention of social media also brought unwanted vices including cyber bulling, unethical practices like hacking, frauds, addiction, security issues, among others. Although social media has several cons, there is evidence that if properly used, it can lead to the community benefiting from the connectivity it gives to aid communication for businesses and personal levels. The essay highlights usefulness of social media in transforming business and personal communication.
The Advantages of Social Media in Employment
Social media is a communication tool that allows internet users to share information and receive feedback immediately. The efficiency of using social media platforms as communication tools allows for the timely transmission of advertisement posts by organizations. Decades ago, job advertisement was done through the use of print media such as newspapers; this technique was outdated after the creation of the internet in the 1990’s (Collmus et al., 2016). The main advantage of social media in employment is that it ensures that there is timely transmission of messages about job advertisements and this allows both the job candidate and the recruiter to receive immediate feedback from both parties concerning job vacancies (Collmus et al., 2016). Moreover, the advertisements reach a bigger audience than they would in the print media, as they can be forwarded to other social media users. The traditional job advertisements done through the print media would wait until the next issue to make desired changes of previous job advertisements but with social media, changes can be made immediate thus allowing candidates to respond accordingly (Van de Ven et al., 2017). The social media platforms enjoy a wider audience, especially the youth who do not buy newspapers but visit the internet daily. Therefore, social media has improved the recruitment process by improving efficiency and passing the message to more people, thus organizations can get many candidates to choose from.
The recruitment process in many organizations depends on efficient communication as it is essential for practices such as job advertisements and the actual recruitment process. The use of social media platforms such as LinkedIn in the recruitment process is not a new process as many organizations utilize such websites to advertise for open positions and, also select the appropriate and qualified candidates for the posts (Van Iddekinge et al., 2016). Online users also can create a personalized profile on social media websites, and such information can be used as an online curriculum vitae. It is important for recruiters to identify the target audience for job advertisements, as this will enable a recruiter to determine the appropriate candidates for specific job posts. The role of social media in connecting recruiters to qualified individuals cannot be underestimated (Jeske and Shultz, 2015). Social networking sites can be used to reduce human resource procurement costs as social media platforms provide a cheap but efficient recruitment solution to organizations (Landers and Schmidt, 2016). Social media also aids in the evaluation of potential job candidates through the profiling of the individuals using data acquired from social networking websites (Jeske and Shultz, 2015). People create profiles that show their academic and other qualifications. As such, social media plays a critical role in profiling skills of candidates making easy for the recruiters to select the best candidates even before calling for an interview. The use of social media as a hiring tool eases the process of recruitment as employers can quickly get the kind of talents they are looking for while at the same time people seeking to be employed get to expose their skill and expertise to the potential employers (Jeske and Shultz, 2015). The recruiters get the information they need to shortlist candidates before inviting them for face-to-face interviews, thus, saving on time and money.
The other advantage of using social media in employment is that the technique has lower cost combined with a high success rate of matching the right candidate with an employment position (Van Iddekinge et al., 2016). The recruitment process is always costly with the challenges of getting the right people especially when companies have to contract third-party recruiters who charge high rates thus increasing an organization's cost of operation. A proper strategized online advertising in social media can be used to shortlist the candidates suitable for a post from a broad category of qualified candidates; on the contrary, the improper advertisement could result in the hiring of a less skilled individual for the advertised position (Jeske and Shultz, 2015).
Most of the individuals who rely on social media websites for employment opportunities are university graduates, college students, and as such. Social media give the recent graduates the ability to conduct a proper job search in the comfort of their homes of school (Landers and Schmidt, 2016). Through social media websites such a linked in and Facebook, the recent graduates can apply for entry-level positions and graduate trainee opportunities over the internet. The use of social media in employment has increased the efficiency of the hiring process by allowing recruiters to find the right match for jobs online (Landers and Schmidt, 2016).
Disadvantages of Social media in the Employment Sector
While there are many advantages of using social media in the employment sector, the technique also has some undesirable effects. There are some challenges presented by the use of social media in talent acquisition, and the first one is that social media makes it hard for a single candidate to stand out in the midst of millions of social media users (Jeske and Shultz, 2015). The old job application process relied on hard copy applications sent to the recruiter through the post office or courier services; this reduced the number of applications in a single vacancy due to the geographical barrier and the cost of sending a letter to the organization. Application of jobs on through social media has increased the number of applications received by recruiters as applicants can apply for positions in the comfort of their homes. Human resource managers cannot go through all the forms, and some candidates will be left out in the shortlisting process even though they possess remarkable credentials (Jeske and Shultz, 2015).
The use of social media in the recruitment process can also have undesired adverse effects on candidates as recruiters tend to examine the potential candidates based on the information on social media accounts. There are no regulations when it comes to profiling candidates based on their social profiles (Jeske and Shultz, 2015). Therefore, information that is meant for entertainment purposes can taint the image of a candidate in the eyes of a recruiter (Landers and Schmidt, 2016). For example, a person could post a funny joke on LinkedIn, and although most of the viewers might find it hilarious, the content of the post could be annoying in the eyes of a person such as a recruiter. Although the mentioned candidate is qualified for the position, he /she may not get shortlisted due to the negative impression of the recruiter; this is what is referred to as recruiter bias (Landers and Schmidt, 2016).
Employees also face the danger of losing current employment when they post on social media that they are looking for a new position; this shows how social media negatively impact applicants as they lose their privacy in the application process. Recruiters are also usually on the lookout for employees who make negative remarks about their present or former employees (Landers and Schmidt, 2016). Such behavior is a red signal to the human resources manager as it paints a negative image of the job applicant. The privacy concept is fundamental to all firms, and the reason why organizations go through the social accounts of potential employees is to figure out if the candidate can adhere to the privacy policy of the company without posting workplace issues on social media (Landers and Schmidt, 2016).
Recruiters examine the social media accounts of potential employees to get a clear profile and personality of the candidate and also to analyze how the candidate behaves in certain conditions such as those of extreme pressure. It is also possible for a recruiter to find out about the work ethics of an individual through analyzing the information posted on social media accounts. Social media profiles can be used by organizations to figure out if a candidate is a right fit for the company based on the company’s culture, work ethics, and rules (Jeske and Shultz, 2015). It is also advisable that recruiters do not solely rely on the information found in social media accounts while making hiring decisions; this is because many individuals do not mix their personal lives and professional lives while networking and they also occasionally alter their social accounts to match the job requirements. There are instances when social media accounts such as Facebook and Twitter do not give an accurate indication of how well an individual may perform in a role due to constant changes in the account as the candidate may tailor the social profile to a professional one (Landers and Schmidt, 2016). Many candidates to admit to continually editing their profiles to appeal to an organization; this is the reason why a recruiter should combine other screening tests with social media profiling when deciding to hire someone (Landers and Schmidt, 2016). People do make social media profile changes such as deleting specific photos, videos and even changing visibility settings on particular posts. Social media profile screening should be combined with other profiling tools such as assessment centers, psychometric testing, and other detailed interactive exercises; all these will provide accurate information about the personality and qualification of a potential candidate and the suitability of the individual to a specific role (Van de Ven et al., 2017).
Conclusion
Social media is a powerful communication tool that has been utilized by organizations to aid in the process of recruitment. Many social media users rely on social websites such as LinkedIn to get information about job vacancies. Despite the numerous advantages of social media in employment, it does have some challenges such as recruiter bias and the loss of privacy for the applicants. However, the advantages outweigh the disadvantages, thus organizations are taking advantage of social media connectivity to transmit job advertisements as they come up without the limitations in the print media, attract many job seekers thus increasing the chances of getting the best candidates and use the data provided on the social media to profile them.
References
Collmus, A. B., Armstrong, M. B., " Landers, R. N. (2016). Game-thinking within social media to recruit and select job candidates. Social media in employee selection and recruitment, 103-124. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-29989-1_6
Jeske, D., " Shultz, K. S. (2015). Using social media content for screening in recruitment and selection: pros and cons. Work, Employment and Society, 30(3), 535-546. doi:10.1177/0950017015613746
Landers, R. N., " Schmidt, G. B. (2016). Social media in employee selection and recruitment: Current knowledge, unanswered questions, and future directions. Social Media in Employee Selection and Recruitment, 343-367. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-29989-1_16
Van de Ven, N., Bogaert, A., Serlie, A., Brandt, M. J., " Denissen, J. J. (2017). Personality perception based on LinkedIn profiles. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 32(6), 418-429. doi:10.1108/jmp-07-2016-0220
Van Iddekinge, C. H., Lanivich, S. E., Roth, P. L., " Junco, E. (2016). Social media for selection? Validity and adverse impact potential of a facebook-based assessment. Journal of Management, 42(7), 1811-1835. doi:10.1177/0149206313515524
