Online vetting, also known as cyber-vetting[1] is used by potential employers and other acquaintances to vet people's online presence or "internet reputation" ("netrep")[2] on search engines such as Google and Yahoo, and social networking services such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.[3] Employers may check profiles, posts, and photographs for indications that the candidate is unsuitable for a certain job or position.
"Many young people are posting content online without thinking about the electronic footprint they leave behind.
The cost to a person's future can be very high if something undesirable is found by the increasing number of education institutions and employers using the internet as a tool to vet potential students or employees."
Social media has tremendously increased over the decades. In the United States, there are about 327 million users on social media platforms as of 2021. [5] With so many users online, recruiters have pivoted to directly asking candidates' for their social media platforms on the initial application. This allows for recruiters to fully access and see what their candidates are doing and posting online.[6]
A survey in 2007 found that half of UK employees would be outraged if their employers looked up information about them on social networking sites, and 56% thought it would be unethical. Employer surveys found that between approximately 20-67% of employers conduct internet searches, including of social networking sites, and that some have turned down applicants as a result of their searches.[1] 21% of colleges and universities surveyed said they looked at the social networking of prospective students, usually for those applying for scholarships and other limited awards and programmes.[7] Prospective political appointees to the Obama administration were asked to list all their blog posts, any emails, text messages, and instant messages that could suggest a conflict of interest or public source of embarrassment, the URLs of any sites that featured them in a personal or professional capacity, and all of their online aliases.[8]
Job applicants have been refused due to criticising previous employers and discussing company information online,[9][10] as well as for posting provocative and inappropriate photographs, drinking or drug use, poor communication skills, making discriminatory comments, and lying about qualifications.[11] Several companies offer online reputation management services, including helping to remove embarrassing information from websites.[12] According to a CareerBuilder study, it found that 57% of employers rejected potential employees when an online vetting scan happened. [13]
In 2017, research findings conducted with recruiters listed three primary function of a cybervetting process:[14]
Screening - Process considered analogous to conventional background check and résumé analysis;
Efficiency - A more effective way to gather information from a candidate than the conventional process;
Relational - Analysis of a candidate relationship and behavior through social network posts.
While online vetting can be an advantage for recruiters who want to learn more about their candidates, online vetting can also cause recruiters to learn false information about their candidates. With people knowing their online presence is being seen by hundreds of people, some people would only post certain things on their social media profiles to help boost their profile and make themselves look better for other people. For example someone might engage in a certain activity only to post it on their social media to make themselves look like a good person and make the audience think they actually care for that activity. This can cause recruiters to get a false impression of the candidate from online vetting. [15] Due to this, some potential employees will connect with their recruiter on social media. This can be good or bad depending on if the potential employee has vetted their own social media to make sure there is nothing on there that will make them look bad. [16]
Top social media platforms used by the public.
Legal position
Online vetting has begun as a main component within the vetting process for a new employee. However, there are implications that the grey areas surrounding it have issues with legality. Online vetting blurs together, a candidate’s personal life with their professional livelihood, which blurs defining boundaries that are socially prominent elsewhere. [17] Legal experts have warned human resources departments about vetting prospective employees online, due to the possibility of discrimination and the unreliability of this information.[18] The chairman of the UK Children's Charities' Coalition on Internet Safety argued in 2007 that it was "possibly illegal, but certainly unethical". While the Information Commissioner's Office advised that just looking at information on someone's social networking profiles would not be illegal, an employment law specialist noted that under the Data Protection Act 1998, processing and storing the information or using it to make discriminatory decisions could be.[19]
Age discrimination might result from such a practice, due to the age profile of users of social networking sites.[18][20] Failed candidates may be able to use discrimination legislation to ask about vetting operations and even ask for IT records to check access to social networks.[9] In the US, vetting using social networking sites risks breaching the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), which requires employers to gain the consent of applicants before doing a background check, state laws that limit the consideration of off-duty conduct in making employment decisions, and any searches risk breaching prohibitions against commercial use contained in the terms of service of the social networking sites.[21]
In 2006, a trainee teacher at a high school in Pennsylvania was denied her teaching degree after her supervisor found a picture she posted on MySpace captioned "Drunken pirate" and deemed it "unprofessional". She sued, arguing that by acting on the basis of her legal out-of-hours behavior Millersville University had breached her First Amendment rights, but a federal district court ruled that the photograph was not "protected speech" under the First Amendment.[22]
↑ Berkelaar, Brenda L (2017-01-31). "Different ways new information technologies influence conventional organizational practices and employment relationships: The case of cybervetting for personnel selection". Human Relations. 70 (9): 1115–1140. doi:10.1177/0018726716686400. ISSN0018-7267. S2CID152200938.
A résumé, sometimes spelled resume, is a document created and used by a person to present their background, skills, and accomplishments. Résumés can be used for a variety of reasons, but most often they are used to secure new employment.
A background check is a process a person or company uses to verify that an individual is who they claim to be, and this provides an opportunity to check and confirm the validity of someone's criminal record, education, employment history, and other activities from their past. The frequency, purpose, and legitimacy of background checks vary among countries, industries, and individuals. An employment background check typically takes place when someone applies for a job, but it can also happen at any time the employer deems necessary. A variety of methods are used to complete these checks including comprehensive database search and personal references.
Recruitment is the overall process of identifying, sourcing, screening, shortlisting, and interviewing candidates for jobs within an organization. Recruitment also is the process involved in choosing people for unpaid roles. Managers, human resource generalists and recruitment specialists may be tasked with carrying out recruitment, but in some cases public-sector employment, commercial recruitment agencies, or specialist search consultancies are used to undertake parts of the process. Internet-based technologies which enhance all aspects of recruitment are now widespread, including the use of artificial intelligence (AI).
LinkedIn is a American Multinational business and employment-focused social media platform that works through websites and mobile apps. It was launched on May 5, 2003. It is now owned by Microsoft. The platform is primarily used for professional networking and career development, and allows jobseekers to post their CVs and employers to post jobs. From 2015 most of the company's revenue came from selling access to information about its members to recruiters and sales professionals. Since December 2016, it has been a wholly owned subsidiary of Microsoft. As of September 2023, LinkedIn has more than 930 million registered members from over 200 countries and territories.
A social networking service or SNS is a type of online social media platform which people use to build social networks or social relationships with other people who share similar personal or career content, interests, activities, backgrounds or real-life connections.
Job hunting, job seeking, or job searching is the act of looking for employment, due to unemployment, underemployment, discontent with a current position, or a desire for a better position. The immediate goal of job seeking is usually to obtain a job interview with an employer which may lead to getting hired. The job hunter or seeker typically first looks for job vacancies or employment opportunities.
An employment website is a website that deals specifically with employment or careers. Many employment websites are designed to allow employers to post job requirements for a position to be filled and are commonly known as job boards. Other employment sites offer employer reviews, career and job-search advice, and describe different job descriptions or employers. Through a job website, a prospective employee can locate and fill out a job application or submit resumes over the Internet for the advertised position.
Sourcing is a talent acquisition discipline which is focused on the identification, assessment and engagement of skilled worker candidates through proactive recruiting techniques. Professionals specializing in sourcing are known primarily as Sourcers; but also Internet Recruiters, Recruiting Researchers or Talent Scouts.
Geosocial networking is a type of social networking in which geographic services and capabilities such as geocoding and geotagging are used to enable additional social dynamics. User-submitted location data or geolocation techniques can allow social networks to connect and coordinate users with local people or events that match their interests. Geolocation on web-based social network services can be IP-based or use hotspot trilateration. For mobile social networks, texted location information or mobile phone tracking can enable location-based services to enrich social networking.
Online identity management (OIM), also known as online image management, online personal branding, or personal reputation management (PRM), is a set of methods for generating a distinguished Web presence of a person on the Internet. Online identity management also refers to identity exposure and identity disclosure, and has particularly developed in the management on online identity in social network services or online dating services.
Digital footprint or digital shadow refers to one's unique set of traceable digital activities, actions, contributions, and communications manifested on the Internet or digital devices. Digital footprints can be classified as either passive or active. The former is composed of a user's web-browsing activity and information stored as cookies. The latter is often released deliberately by a user to share information on websites or social media. While the term usually applies to a person, a digital footprint can also refer to a business, organization or corporation.
Corporate social media is the use of social media platforms, social media communications and social media marketing techniques by and within corporations, ranging from small businesses and tiny entrepreneurial startups to mid-size businesses and huge multinational firms. Within the definition of social media, there are different ways corporations utilize it. Although there is no systematic way in which social media applications can be categorized, there are various methods and approaches to having a strong social media presence.
Since the arrival of early social networking sites in the early 2000s, online social networking platforms have expanded exponentially, with the biggest names in social media in the mid-2010s being Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat. The massive influx of personal information that has become available online and stored in the cloud has put user privacy at the forefront of discussion regarding the database's ability to safely store such personal information. The extent to which users and social media platform administrators can access user profiles has become a new topic of ethical consideration, and the legality, awareness, and boundaries of subsequent privacy violations are critical concerns in advance of the technological age.
Glassdoor is an American website where current and former employees anonymously review companies. Headquartered in San Francisco, California, it has additional offices in Chicago, Dublin, London, and São Paulo.
ClearanceJobs is a career website based in Urbandale, Iowa. It serves individuals with active federal security clearances and provides a secure forum for employers to recruit cleared employees. It is known as the 'premier secure job board focused exclusively on candidates with active or current U.S. government security clearances.'
Corporate surveillance describes the practice of businesses monitoring and extracting information from their users, clients, or staff. This information may consist of online browsing history, email correspondence, phone calls, location data, and other private details. Acts of corporate surveillance frequently look to boost results, detect potential security problems, or adjust advertising strategies. These practices have been criticized for violating ethical standards and invading personal privacy. Critics and privacy activists have called for businesses to incorporate rules and transparency surrounding their monitoring methods to ensure they are not misusing their position of authority or breaching regulatory standards.
Social media use in hiring refers to the examination by employers of job applicants' social media profiles as part of the hiring assessment. The vast majority of Fortune 500 companies use social media as a tool to screen prospective employees and as a tool for talent acquisition.
The advent of social networking services has led to many issues spanning from misinformation and disinformation to privacy concerns related to public and private personal data.
Artificial intelligence (AI) in hiring involves the use of technology to automate aspects of the hiring process. Advances in artificial intelligence, such as the advent of machine learning and the growth of big data, enable AI to be utilized to recruit, screen, and predict the success of applicants. Proponents of artificial intelligence in hiring claim it reduces bias, assists with finding qualified candidates, and frees up human resource workers' time for other tasks, while opponents worry that AI perpetuates inequalities in the workplace and will eliminate jobs.
A social media background check is an investigative technique that involves scrutinizing the social media profiles and activities of individuals, primarily for pre-employment screening and other official verifications. These checks are performed to review people's online behavioral history on social media websites such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Social media background checks have become a common part of recruitment processes, among other verification procedures.
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