Social Media Credentials During Job Recruitments

Numerous advances and technologies have been produced since the beginning of the industrial revolution in the eighteenth century. Through the passage of time, computer technology arose with the primary goal of making human life easier and more interesting. With the advent of electronic information transfer in the late twentieth century, information technology assumed dominance. It was at its height in the previous decade, and now, with the development of social media platforms and blogs, its widespread use cannot be overlooked. Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp are among the most prominent social media networks. These sites are currently being used by companies and other institutions to conduct business as well as interact with the world. Together with the internet, these sites have made the world a social village and hence cannot be ignored. Analyzing the impact of social media to the corporate sphere it is necessary for the interviewers to scrutinize the social morals and principles of future employees displayed in their social media accounts, generally, employees display a picture of the company’s ethics and way of doing things.

Giving out an applicant’s login credentials during job applications is becoming a common undertaking. To start with, applicants can hide what can be viewed by the public and by who hence the need to present the passwords. Among the reasons of its importance is the fact that there is a great inadequacy of available jobs and a steep competition of the available slots to numerous qualified graduates (Headworth 45). Assessing the applicant’s social media accounts hence helps the interviewer to gain better insights of the job seeker’s abilities and potential. This also inculcates the sample of posts, their professionalism, sense of a voice, talents and their skills in relaying information to their public. A positive insight of all these areas hence gives the applicant a better competitive edge over others who might be academically qualified but poor on their social skills (Arthur 132). There is also a trend of individuals venting and ranting about their workplace and work procedures. This makes business and corporates vulnerable and possibly getting confidential information leaked out to the public. This, therefore calls for the corporates to be more cautious about how those they hire relay their online information. It can also relay incidences of inappropriate morals and ethics such as sexism, discrimination or any other ugly incidence. Such incidences might similarly lead to negative criticism of the whole company hence the caution (Arthur 140).

However, the practice has its negative side. It is an infringement of an individual’s privacy. Despite not being illegal and Facebook not addressing the issue, getting in any person’s social media profiles undermines their security and privacy (Headworth 87). Several states have filled it as a way of violating the act on stored communications. The practice could also raise concerns about equal employment opportunities. This is due to discrimination against qualified candidates who do not have active social media accounts which may create a prejudice to the interviewer that the applicant is either lying or not willing to produce it. It can also deny candidates a chance on the basis slight social media behaviors which are not a reflection of their personality (Headworth). Also, to get a clear picture of the applicant’s personality and behavior, the social media screening should just be a small bit of it. Instead, they should put increase screening criminal records and professional backgrounds. In addition, the information obtained from the online sites cannot be reliable and might fail to be 100% authentic (Headworth 145).



Annotated Bibliography

Arthur, Diane. Recruiting, interviewing, selecting & orienting new employees. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2012.

In this book, Arthur has stipulated in a chronological and precise manner the art of recruitment and orientation of new employees. To start with, Arthur explains how corporates can successfully attract their preferred, competent and qualifies candidates for job applications which is directly related to their adherence to top standards of excellence. He goes on to explain the different perspectives of both the employer and an applicant during an interview. This includes their expectations from each other and the often-used recruitment sources. Arthur discusses the social media recruitment and its necessitating use. He has highlighted the pros of social media screening to the recruitment process among other electronic alternative sources. The book has illustrated why the social media approach enhances a choice of professional individuals with a moral and ethical social life. In his work, he has stipulated the various legislative clauses touching on the stored communication act. The book goes on to explain other forms of recruitment and testing.

Headworth, Andy. Social media recruitment: how to successfully integrate social media into recruitment strategy. Melbourne: Kogan Page Stylus, 2016.

Headworth analyzes the use of social media during recruitment giving the various ways that social media can be inculcated into the recruitment process. He encourages the requesting of applicants’ social media credentials citing it as a strategy in coping with the dynamics of the internet usage and issues. In his works, he supports that social media recruitment brings into play a combination of a practical guidance of the applicant’s life and insights that are relatable to the job profession possibly the traits and skills that can be deduced online. The book provides an illustration of how human resource managers can successfully integrate social media recruitment. Additionally, he gives the possible challenges and limitations to the strategy among them being privacy infringement of the applicants.

































Works Cited

Arthur, Diane. Recruiting, interviewing, selecting & orienting new employees. New York: McGraw-Hill , 2012. print.

Headworth, Andy. Social media recruitment : how to successfully integrate social media into

recruitment strategy. Melbourne: Kogan Page Stylus, 2016. print.