Everybody does it. But, not everybody does it right. And recruiters and hiring managers know this.
What is it? Social networking.
Job candidates need to be aware of the red flags in their social profiles because hiring managers are using advanced data analytics tools to perform more in-depth background checks before writing the offer letter.
Just recently, Social Intelligence Corporation launched a new product designed to help recruiters and hiring managers search out information on social networks that would disqualify candidates. In addition, they offer a package that allows HR to continuously monitor data on employees across social networks.
The press release promises that the technology is advanced enough to determine “false positives and erroneous information.” In addition, the solution guarantees that federally discriminating information is hidden in the screening process. While it’s great that these solutions are working to protect data, candidates need to protect themselves and dive into the data these systems pull from their public profiles and online communications.
Here are five ways to protect yourself from getting flagged in a social networking background check:
- Do a data audit. What is out there about you? Check all of your online profiles – Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, MySpace and Google yourself. Be sure people are not posting false profiles in your name.
- Pull a credit report. Be sure you don’t have any suspicious activity on your credit report that could be flagged by a background check. Take it a step further if you do find something and Google any weird addresses or different spellings of your name. Alert the credit bureaus to any false information so that that they can update your public reports.
- Purge data that can be seen as harmful. Pictures with alcoholic beverages. Vulgar language uttered by you or a friend on your wall. Consider how these bits of data can harm your reputation.
- Check your privacy controls on all social networks. Make sure you are controlling the privacy settings on your profiles. It’s more and more important these days because of how social we are with location check-ins and image tags. The last thing a candidate wants a hiring manager to see is where they went to party last night. Keep your personal life data as locked down as you can.
- Consider who your friends are. Just like it’s not a good idea to try to friend an interviewer on Facebook, it’s also important to analyze your friends and contacts for items that may harm your reputation. If you have a friend who likes to gossip online or publish photos of things you’d rather keep private, consider two things – blocking that person from your profiles and your activity around that person.
Following these five steps can help you clean up data so that data analytics tools present an accurate report.
Amanda Brandon
Spotfire Blogging Team
Image Credit: Microsoft Office Clip Art
