Social media screening in recruitment: risks for candidates and employers

In this digital age, social media is one of the most prevalent ways to communicate and socialise. Whilst it can be fantastic for bringing people together and sharing thoughts and memories, it also has the potential to cause problems – and it could cost people their jobs.

In a survey of over 2,000 UK workers about their attitudes towards social media and the workplace, we found startling figures that suggest a lack of awareness of how social media can cause problems at work.

The public display of drug and alcohol use was significantly more prevalent than we had expected, with a massive 51% of employees stating that they would post a photo of themselves drunk on social media. Of this number, 67% actually had already posted a photo of themselves intoxicated online.

Whilst not as widespread as drinking, drug use was still at shocking levels, with 14% of Brits revealing that they had previously posted a photo of themselves using drugs on social media platforms. This type of activity is likely to raise concerns for any employer who sees it and could even lead to disciplinary action.

It may seem that this is all in the spirit of good fun, but it must be considered from an outside perspective. Taking drugs is illegal, and employers are unlikely to take kindly to their employees promoting it online.

Our view

Current employees can find themselves in hot water by posting inappropriate content to social media. Pictures of drug use or excessive drinking can reflect badly on you – especially if it can be argued that it goes against the terms of your contract or could damage the company’s image and reputation. We may think that our profiles are quite hidden, but often this simply isn’t the case. If a client, partner or supplier were to see such content, it could seriously undermine their perception of the company. It’s prudent to do a bit of housekeeping on your profiles once in a while to ensure you’re presenting the right impression.

Unfortunately, it seems that many people are yet to heed this advice, with 23% of workers stating that they never check to see if their social media profiles are free of risky or offensive content. A further 12% stated that they just didn’t care how their online presence looks to others, including recruiters, meaning that a significant portion of the workforce could be finding themselves silently screened out of the recruitment process.

Recruiters increasingly use social media as a tool to research potential candidates. In fact, according to a 2015 survey by CareerBuilder, 52% now pre-screen employees on social media. As such, the picture a profile paints is incredibly important and revealing. If the perception a recruiter gets of a candidate while reviewing their social media profile is one lacking in maturity or exhibiting potentially unstable behaviour, it is unlikely that the candidate will be viewed in a positive light.

While you might think that your social media profiles are your own private domain, this is unfortunately not the case. In the current job market, potential employers are increasingly turning to social media to research candidates, so it’s important you present them with a picture that reflects you as a mature, dependable adult.

One question the findings raise is whether employees are being wilfully ignorant or even negligent when it comes to educating their employees and implementing social media policies. A strong and clear social media policy can go a long way towards educating your employees about the dos and don’ts of social media use. It can also help prevent any unfortunate fallout resulting from inappropriate use of social media. If you’re an employee and unsure of the rules, we recommend reading through your social media policy to ensure you know exactly what’s expected of you.

Social media is not going away and is only continuing to grow in use and popularity. Employers and employees alike need to ensure they know exactly how work and social lives mix on the social media plane and how they can both avoid any unnecessary unpleasantness. We always recommend employers implementing a social media policy and reviewing it regularly.