Now a days the lines between personal and professional lives are increasingly blurred. For hiring managers, this presents both opportunity and risk. While resumes and interviews provide important insights into a candidate’s qualifications and personality, they often paint a limited picture. Enter social media screening—a modern recruitment tool that offers a deeper understanding of a candidate’s values, behavior, and potential red flags.
- What it is: Scanning an applicant’s Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, SnapChat, Tumblr, Tik Tok or other social media sites looking for clues about personality traits, drug or alcohol use, or other qualities that may or may not sway the hiring decision.
- Why you might use it: In June 2013, a survey by CareerBuilder found that more than 43% of hiring managers who vetted applicants online did not hire a potential employee based on information found online. Such information included provocative photos, posts about drug use, badmouthing a former employer, discriminatory comments, and lying about qualifications. Social media can give insight into a candidate’s behavior and personality that traditional applications and interviews can’t.
- Things to keep in mind: Looking at an applicant’s social media sites can potentially break the law by revealing information about their race, gender, religion, age, or other factors that constitute illegal discrimination in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
If you decide to vet applicants via social media, here are a few things to keep in mind, as recommended by LawPractice Today, an American Bar Association publication:- Hire a third-party vendor to do the search. It is the safest way to make sure you aren’t breaking the law. However, doing this triggers the FCRA rules that you must ask and receive permission to do such a search.
- Have a written policy. Explain in writing exactly how you will conduct the search by identifying which social media sites will be reviewed and what criteria will be considered in the hiring process (talking bad about others, aggressive or violent acts, unlawful activity, discriminatory activity, sexually explicit activity, etc.).
- Inform applicants of the search. If you’re using a third party to do it, you’ll need to inform them anyway. If you are doing it yourself, it will still save you potential legal headaches. Never ask for passwords or login credentials. It is illegal in many states and also might force the applicant to violate the site’s terms and conditions about sharing login info.
- Document everything. Keep records of all the searches performed, as well as copies of the permission requests and permission grants.
This article explores four essential reasons to integrate social media screening into your hiring workflow—and how Wave Screenings can help you do it safely, efficiently, and fairly.
1. Ensure Cultural Fit and Workplace Safety
One of the top benefits of social media screening is its ability to reveal behavioral patterns that may not emerge in interviews, reference checks or regular background check. Public posts, comments, and interactions can offer insights into a candidate’s character, values, and how they engage with others online.
Examples of What Employers Might Identify:
- Harassment or bullying behavior
- Extremist or discriminatory views
- Excessive profanity or violent language
- Sexually explicit or illegal activity
- Threats or hostile posts targeting coworkers or organizations
- Positive community engagement, advocacy, or professionalism
2. Increase Efficiency, Consistency, and Scalability
- Speed: Get comprehensive social media reports within hours instead of days.
- Consistency: Apply the same standards to every candidate across every position.
- Scalability: Easily expand the process to hundreds of candidates without burdening HR teams.
- Accuracy: AI-driven pattern recognition is less likely to overlook key behavioral indicators.
3. Streamlined Reports with Actionable Insights
Wave Screenings platform presents findings in easy-to-digest reports that categorize content by risk level (e.g., “low,” “moderate,” “high”) and content type. Employers can filter results to focus on behaviors most relevant to their industry, such as:
- Financial integrity
- Online harassment
- Substance abuse
- Professionalism
4. Protect Company Reputation and Prevent Costly Mis-Hires
Hiring the wrong person can damage team morale, increase turnover, and in the worst cases, expose your company to public backlash or legal consequences.
In the age of virality, a single controversial post from an employee can go viral and reflect poorly on the employer—even if that post was made before they joined the company.
Wave Screenings makes it easy to add this powerful tool to your hiring strategy. Our platform is built for today’s fast-paced, compliance-heavy HR landscape—and offers everything you need to screen social media professionally and ethically.
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