During his acceptance speech of a Honorary Doctorate of Laws (LLD) from The University of The West Indies, St. Augustine Campus, His Excellency, President Anthony Carmona told the graduates in attendance to be mindful of what you post online. He went on to say that employers are now browsing social media websites to gain a greater insight into your personal habits.
“Your future employer will go into that growing wasteland, social media, to see if you are an active participant of what should not be done, and brilliance and Honours Degree will fail against that background.”
President Carmona could be no further from the truth as this is a growing trend among employers. The social screening does not stop there as universities, both local and international, have also taken up this tactic when screening students for enrollment. Laws are actually passed in the US allowing third-party companies to begin compiling social media reports for companies in order to screen potential hires.
So how are companies screening? Employers begin by selecting the top or most popular social media sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram. Here are some stats from such screenings:
| POSITIVE | Negative | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18% of employers found content on social sites that influenced them to hire a candidate | 35% of employers found content on social sites that caused them to NOT hire a candidate | |||
| 50% | A good feel for the candidate’s personality | 53% | Provocative / inappropriate photographs or information | |
| 39% | Truth about candidate’s professional qualifications | 44% | Content about them drinking alcohol or using drugs | |
| 38% | Creativity | 35% | Bad-mouthing about previous employers, co-workers etc | |
| 35% | Solid communication skills | 29% | Poor communication skills | |
| 33% | Well-rounded | 26% | Discriminatory comments | |
| 19% | Good references from others about the candidate | 24% | Lies about qualification | |
| 15% | Awards and accolades received by the candidate | 20% | Confidential information about candidate’s previous job | |
View President’s Carmona Graduation Speech here