More employers reject applicants due to social media

Forty-three percent of employers use social networking sites to research job candidates, up from 39% last year and 36% in 2012.

Additionally, 12% of employers don’t currently research candidates on social media but plan to start.

Employers aren’t limiting themselves to social networks when it comes to researching candidates’ web presences. Forty-five percent of employers use search engines to research potential job candidates, with 20% saying they do so frequently or always.

What are employers finding on social media that’s prompting them to eliminate candidates from consideration? Some of the most common reasons to pass on a candidate included the following:

• applicant posted provocative or inappropriate photographs or information (46%);
• applicant posted information about them drinking or using drugs (41%);
• applicant candidates bad-mouthed their previous company or fellow employee (36%);
• applicant had discriminatory comments related to race, gender, religion, etc. (28%);
• applicant lied about qualifications (25%);
• applicant shared confidential information from previous employers (24%);
• applicant was linked to criminal behaviour (22%); and
• applicant’s screen name was unprofessional (21%).

However, 33% of employers that research candidates on social networking sites say they’ve found content that made them more likely to hire a candidate. What’s more, nearly 23% found content that directly led to them hiring the candidate, up from 19% last year.

There were 2,138 hiring managers and HR professionals who took part in the survey.

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