Recent stories of Gay Times editor Josh Rivers being suspended after historic offensive Tweets were found on his Twitter account. YouTube star Jack Maynard was recently removed from the I’m Celebrity show early due to a series of status’ on his social media accounts dating back to 2011. It begs the question as to how much we really know about our candidates and potential employees. Should negative media screening form a part of the pre-employment process? There are arguments for both sides, some employers feel its intrusive and that it’s not right to judge an individual on their past actions and previous opinions. Others believe that if the information is in the public eye why shouldn’t it be put with the candidate’s application.
With the rise in technology and people using social media now more than ever, is it very easy to access information online from years ago, a time when you may have voiced potentially offensive comments that could harm future employment opportunities. It’s been reported that over 75% of employers use social media to recruit and last year a third of employers turned down candidates because of their social media profiles. But where does it end? When does an individual’s social life stop affecting their future job prospects?
Social media should always remain a platform for individuals to share their personality and what makes them unique from others, however, it needs to be kept in mind who could potentially see this information. There are strict privacy and discrimination laws to protect candidates when employers are checking candidate’s social media profiles.
If profiles are private, a lot of information will not show up on any screening searches. CBS offers a Negative Media search. This service includes referencing against global news articles and internet search databases, in the public domain. Only negative articles will be reported.
If this is a service that you would be interested in, we can build negative media searches into your screening package. Theis type of check can identify potentially adverse information that may not always show up in a criminal check. They can help identify if the candidate will fit in with the culture of your organisation, put a face and personality to an application humanizing the candidate.
Safeguard your organisation from negative press and let us build negative media screening into your pre-employee screening procedures. We can take the hassle out of screening employees and present you with a summarized report.
Contact us today for more information.
01443 799900