Comments on: Social Media Matches the Job Candidate to the Position http://www.deirdrebreakenridge.com/2010/02/social-media-matches-the-job-candidate-to-the-position/ PR 2.0 Strategies Fri, 30 Jul 2010 13:26:01 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 By: Deirdre http://www.deirdrebreakenridge.com/2010/02/social-media-matches-the-job-candidate-to-the-position/comment-page-1/#comment-2711 Deirdre Fri, 12 Feb 2010 18:55:13 +0000 http://www.deirdrebreakenridge.com/?p=992#comment-2711 Hi Amanda! You raise a very good point. Social media on its own may not allow an employer to see the complete person (based on how you use social media). I don't think anyone would ever want to pre-discriminate, so that's why it's really important to use social media only as a part of the screening process. It's also very important to require resumes, writing samples, in person interviews and even call back interviews with team members or supervisors. I think the mix of social media and all of the other job screening practices will help to find a job candidate the right match with an employer. Thanks so much for your thoughtful comment and sharing your insight! Hi Amanda! You raise a very good point. Social media on its own may not allow an employer to see the complete person (based on how you use social media). I don’t think anyone would ever want to pre-discriminate, so that’s why it’s really important to use social media only as a part of the screening process. It’s also very important to require resumes, writing samples, in person interviews and even call back interviews with team members or supervisors. I think the mix of social media and all of the other job screening practices will help to find a job candidate the right match with an employer. Thanks so much for your thoughtful comment and sharing your insight!

]]> By: Amanda Miller Littlejohn http://www.deirdrebreakenridge.com/2010/02/social-media-matches-the-job-candidate-to-the-position/comment-page-1/#comment-2709 Amanda Miller Littlejohn Fri, 12 Feb 2010 14:35:07 +0000 http://www.deirdrebreakenridge.com/?p=992#comment-2709 Very interesting. I think the point about the perfect resume and experience, but maybe the wrong personality being an imperfect "culture fit" is case in point of how social media is now a great way to screen potential candidates. I wonder though, does this type of personality screening potentially lead to pre-descrimination in the job-screening process? I.e. "I don't think that person is a good fit because of his/her hair/weight/wardrobe/sense of humor/lack of wit/immaturity, etc." Just playing devil's advocate. It just seems that with social media we have so many more avenues through which to "pre-judge" job candidates-and this could be a good thing, but could potentially be a bad thing in the wrong hands. What do you think?? Very interesting. I think the point about the perfect resume and experience, but maybe the wrong personality being an imperfect “culture fit” is case in point of how social media is now a great way to screen potential candidates.

I wonder though, does this type of personality screening potentially lead to pre-descrimination in the job-screening process? I.e. “I don’t think that person is a good fit because of his/her hair/weight/wardrobe/sense of humor/lack of wit/immaturity, etc.” Just playing devil’s advocate. It just seems that with social media we have so many more avenues through which to “pre-judge” job candidates-and this could be a good thing, but could potentially be a bad thing in the wrong hands. What do you think??

]]> By: Deirdre http://www.deirdrebreakenridge.com/2010/02/social-media-matches-the-job-candidate-to-the-position/comment-page-1/#comment-2701 Deirdre Wed, 10 Feb 2010 15:20:28 +0000 http://www.deirdrebreakenridge.com/?p=992#comment-2701 Hi Lauren! Thanks so much for commenting. You make a good point about the small percentage that are speaking out. I guess this is just a personal opinion for my own agency. We'd be looking for job candidates who are quite active in the social sphere just based on the nature of work that we do. However, to your point, this could be very limiting to those organizations who are not as focused on the social realm based on industry, etc. In this case, they would want a blend of search opportunities from newspapers, online ads, social media, referrals, etc. I appreciate the comment!! Hi Lauren! Thanks so much for commenting. You make a good point about the small percentage that are speaking out. I guess this is just a personal opinion for my own agency. We’d be looking for job candidates who are quite active in the social sphere just based on the nature of work that we do. However, to your point, this could be very limiting to those organizations who are not as focused on the social realm based on industry, etc. In this case, they would want a blend of search opportunities from newspapers, online ads, social media, referrals, etc. I appreciate the comment!!

]]> By: lauren http://www.deirdrebreakenridge.com/2010/02/social-media-matches-the-job-candidate-to-the-position/comment-page-1/#comment-2699 lauren Wed, 10 Feb 2010 14:50:00 +0000 http://www.deirdrebreakenridge.com/?p=992#comment-2699 Very nice story. Love the example. But just for clarification, are you saying that you will be limiting your future searches to social media? My understanding is that only about 1% of the users of social media ever say a peep. Doesn't this suggest your proposed candidate pool just got really small? Only a fraction of the US population is using social media (yes, I know the fraction is getting larger). Then only 1% are speaking up or actually engaging. Any concerns about missing good people? Just wondering out loud here... And naturally, I'm not worried about myself. I'm in the vocal, yet informed, minority :-) Very nice story. Love the example. But just for clarification, are you saying that you will be limiting your future searches to social media? My understanding is that only about 1% of the users of social media ever say a peep. Doesn’t this suggest your proposed candidate pool just got really small? Only a fraction of the US population is using social media (yes, I know the fraction is getting larger). Then only 1% are speaking up or actually engaging. Any concerns about missing good people? Just wondering out loud here… And naturally, I’m not worried about myself. I’m in the vocal, yet informed, minority :-)

]]>