Social networks and selection processes: a little common sense please

A recent study published by researchers at Northern Illinois University seems to give the lie to the value of companies studying the Facebook profiles of job applicants to assess their suitability for the position during the selection process or the extent to which they might share the company’s values.

The authors draw the conclusion that searching for inappropriate comments, political affinities, photos of drunken revelry, and other supposed indiscretions, which some companies seem to think should eliminate some candidates right from the get go, reveals absolutely nothing about a person’s ability to perform the tasks required of them, and instead reflect the concerns of certain companies regarding gender, race, religion, etc.

The research would seem to confirm what anybody with an ounce of common sense would already imagine: using social networks to ascertain information about somebody’s interests, their influence, or expertise in certain areas, or their contacts within a given industry, for example, might be of value. A personal blog, a carefully developed presence on LinkedIn, or metrics such as Klout and others, taken with the required caution and never as definitive, can help in building up a more complete picture than might be attained simply through an interview or as part of a standard selection procedure.

But taking the step from these kinds of measures to actually spying on somebody to find out whether they use foul language, have certain political opinions, or sometimes attend drunken parties, is quite simply absurd and a waste of time. Anybody can drink too much during a party without it affecting their ability to do their job. Furthermore, we could turn the tables and suggest that a company that rejects a candidate because they came across a photograph of him or her at a party may not be the best place to work.

There is a huge difference between using the social networks to get a better picture of a candidate and spying on him or her to build up some kind of psychological profile. The former can help to evaluate if the candidate is the right person, but the second will only reinforce the personal prejudices of those doing the selecting, without helping in any way to establish whether they can do the job in question. As said: a little common sense, please.

(En español, aquí)