Should Social Media Profiles Affect One’s Opportunity at Employment? Today’s technology has afforded all of us many new ways to communicate with the world. Who would have thought that a simple statement posted on a social network could make it to the far corners of the earth in a matter of a few hours? Employers today are also keying in on these social networking sites to get a better overall picture of the potential employees that are coming through their doors. They have begun to realize that they can learn a whole lot more about the person they are interviewing from those sites than they ever could from a resume or application. According to an article that will be published in the International Journal of Work Innovation, “many employers are using the Facebook profiles of job candidates to filter out weaker applicants based on perception of lifestyle, attitudes and personal appearance.” (Inderscience Publishers). Whether right or wrong, one’s personal life does affect their chances of getting a job. Employers should look at your qualifications and check references to determine if there are any discrepancies in your resume rather than look at social network profiles. Before the age of social media, employers solely relied on a person’s application to judge if they were qualified, if they would fit in with the company and if they would live up to the company image. With social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram businesses can now see much more of a potential employee’s personality before they hire them. Unfortunately many of the things they see could be taken out of context or misunderstood. Depending upon how a person has their privacy settings certain pieces of information surrounding a particular post could be left out. According to an article written by Kevin Casey, he quotes Jennifer McClure of Unbridled Talent, “We should be evaluating candidates based upon their skills and work experience, and providing enough detail in the interview process about our culture so that both the candidate and the employer can make decisions about cultural fit.”(Casey) A subjective opinion made about a candidate for personal reasons is the wrong way to choose an employee and if not done in the right manner could open a company up to a lawsuit. When looking at social media if there is nothing blaringly contradictory to what they have in their resume how is judging them on appearance a fair shake? Unless the company has a specific mission that the profile is completely against why should a person’s social life or thoughts on a subject keep them from being gainfully employed?
With social media being relatively new it is important that companies develop guidelines to protect themselves. A strong consideration needs to be given to who will be conducting the research so as not to bias the interviewer and candidates should be made aware of what part of the interview process profiles will be perused. They must also maintain consistency in checking profiles. Either decide to only check the top three for the position or make the decision to check all applicants. Checking random profiles only subjects the interview process to questions about opinions of the candidates taking more consideration than qualifications. They must also take great care in who they choose to check the social network profiles. You wouldn’t want the person making the final hiring decision to check those profiles prior to evaluating the potential employees. Social media profiles should only be used to see if there are any discrepancies in the information provided by the interviewee and not as a basis to determine employability. A company’s reputation could be severely hurt if applicants are not well aware during the interview process that social media profiles will be considered.
Many questions have arisen as to the legality of requiring applicants to provide profile user names and passwords. The Stored Communications Act and the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act prohibits “access to electronic information without consent or intentionally exceeding the scope of that consent “( Lucey) according to an article written by Nathaniel R. Lucey and Erickson Arbuthnot. An applicant’s privacy can’t be invaded, so companies must take great care in how they access social media profiles. The person responsible for perusing the profiles must also take great care in what they do with the information they obtain from the sites. They can’t copy and disseminate the information they find. It is only supposed to be a guideline as to how well the person will match up with the prospective employer. Also according to Lucey, “ an applicant’s profile will almost always include information – such as religion, age, ethnicity, and sexual preference” (Lucey) which should never be a part of the consideration for a job. If a company was found to be using access to this sort of information to weed out potential employees it could both damage their reputation and open them up to major discrimination law suits. While checking social media sites can prove to be helpful in weeding out less than desirable employees, it must be done in the right fashion. You should not judge a person’s work ethics solely on what they post on Facebook or Twitter. Although how a person conducts themselves outside of work can sometimes be a reflection on the company they are employed by it doesn’t always mean they would not be an asset. Looking at their qualifications and past work history is still a viable way of finding a great employee. With 92% of employers using social media sites during the interview process, one must take special care at what image is portrayed. (Schwabel). While as adults we have a certain responsibility for the image we exude, a night out on the town or a ranting post about what is going on in your life should not forever mark you as a poor prospect for employment.

Works Cited
Dan Schawbel. “How Recruiters Use Social Networks to Make Hiring Decisions Now”. Time. N.P. 9, July 2012. Web. 27 Mar. 2014. http://business.time.com/2012/07/09/how-recruiters-use-social-networks-to-make-hiring-decisions-now/.
Inderscience Publishers. "Many employers use Facebook profiles to screen job applicants." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 23 July 2012. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/07/120723095208.htm>.
Kevin Casey. “ Why It’s a Bad Idea to Check a Job Applicants Facebook Profile”. Intuit Small Business Blog. N.P. 5 Mar. 2012. Web. 27 Mar. 2014. http://blog.intuit.com/employees/why-it%E2%80%99s-bad-idea-to-check-a-job-applicant%E2%80%99s-facebook-profile/