Social Media: "Mining" For Candidate Information

I enjoy Facebook.  I'm not a raving lunatic with Facebook, but I enjoy occasionally looking up people and catching up with long-lost friends. 

However, as an employer, it would seem to be a virtual diamond mine of information I could learn about people.  Especially those applying for a position I've just posted.  And, frankly, why NOT check them out?

• It's free, uncensored, self-published information about a person's interests, thoughts/feelings, personal activities...
• It might help me when I'm considering two candidates for my Manager position posted.  One of them had a nice appearance, family pictures and no red flags; whereas the other candidate had recently recently posted some pictures of himself taken when he was passed out on his lawn Saturday night.   
• Or, it might reveal the candidate who's so angry with her employer that she publicly bashes and bad-mouths them to all of her Facebook friends.   

Good enough reasons for me to continue looking!
 
What I can tell you is that right now, there's no specific legislation that precludes employers from looking at someone's Social Media page (if it's accessible).  So, the good news is that it's not illegal to check these sites out.  However, enter with caution....

• Facebook, MySpace or other Social Media venues offer information that otherwise, you as a hiring manager, would not know about prior to meeting the applicant.  Specifically, it's fair to say that if you see a person's picture, you are able to get a pretty close approximation of data that otherwise would be protected (i.e., race, ethnicity, age, disability).  So, understand that the more you know, the greater the risk is of claiming discrimination if you don't hire them.

• These venues provide you the ability to get a feel for a person's personality, personal preferences, perhaps even their "extra-curricular" activities (how they spend their time outside of work).  Again, I'd advise you proceed with caution.  None of this information would/should ever necessarily be brought up in an interview, and you are potentially making employment decisions on factors outside of work skills, qualifications and the ability to perform the essential job functions. 

But, if you're still intent on checking out someone on their social media page, then you might consider the following suggestions:

• Do so after you've determined that they are qualified and eligible for hire.  In other words, do so after the preliminary phone screen or after the face-to-face interview.
• Do so unilaterally with all qualified applicants.  If you're going to scope out one, then do the same for all at the same point in the process.
• Consider having a non-decision-maker (like an Admin. Assistant) do the research, rather than you, and have him/her only provide you with the essential information learned (education obtained, employer, etc.), rather than some of the peripheral information available (such as hobbies and special interests, family status, etc.)

Suggestion:  Keep your eyes open for this topic to hit the courts sometime in the future.  Already, there's been challenges around certain protections (under the National Labor Relations Act) for people "venting" on their Facebook page.  Tread carefully, but wisely. 

Kathleen Lapekas - PHR
Action HR Consulting
For Personal Attention to Personnel Matters...
http://www.actionhrconsultant.com/