Over the years with the advent of social media most companies have taken to making the best use of the popular social networks like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn etc. this idea of social networking has become extremely popular and widely accepted for greater awareness and a successful mode of searching for candidates. The wide scope of these channels pave the way for more resumes to pour in for filling job positions. However when incorporating social media specifically for the recruiting purpose one must adhere to the below mentioned qualities to look out for in the candidates rather than simply short-listing the candidates for the position.
1. Professional Image Candidates with inappropriate or provocative pictures can be a quick turn off to recruiters, as they usually do not entertain ridiculous antics and often look for a professional image throughout the account, however contextual pictures can also describe a lot about the candidates. Reading between the lines, in this case between the pictures can give a view of the personality of the potential candidate.
2. Strong Communication Even though social media channels are mostly informal and are areas where one communicates with their friends, family and mates in an informal style. Yet it tells a lot about the language used and the grammar skills of the candidate as well as the decency of the communication. It may also be a faint metric of how the candidate may communicate in a long period when on the job.
3. Content Usage Social media is not just about communication but also views, perceptions and opinions. Most candidates who were rejected might have lost because of negative comments on a particular person, race, caste or religion. By viewing the content posted or shared by the candidate, one can get a glimpse of the person’s personality, creativity, knowledge and understanding of the activities around them making them exceptional candidate for the job.
4. Experience and Qualification Experience and qualification stated in the profile of the candidate cannot be trusted without verification as in some cases they may not be true. For instance, the resume or bio may suggest 5 yrs experience however, background checks may reveal only one year.
5. Protected Group Status One should be careful while rejecting a candidate on social media hires specially when they have a protected group status and belong to a particular gender, race sexuality etc as they could file a complaint with the same for rejection.
Although it may seem quite of a cakewalk to hire candidates on social media accounts sometimes, it may be hard to get potential candidates worthy of the position. Hiring the wrong candidate may lead the organization to a chaotic situation so it is advisable to incorporate or watch out for all the above qualities in a candidate while hiring over a social networking channel.
