So if you are a breathing, upright HR Professional in 2009 I know you have read countless blog posts, articles, or attended webinars exhorting you that you need to be mining social networking sites like Facebook and LinkedIn for recruiting purposes. Whether it is to network with and uncover passive candidates, (the primary use of LinekdIn) or research and background check prospects (primarily what recruiters are doing on Facebook), you have been told over and again that you need to be leveraging these tools in your recruiting efforts.
This post isn't another one of those 'How to recruit on Facebook' pieces. If you are interested in that sort of thing, check out the HR Tech News blog which ran a fine series of 'Recruiting on Facebook' posts early in 2008.
In my HR Tech Class for this week's discussion assignment I asked the class to offer comments a;)
nd observations on this new trend in recruiting. These students are quite likely in the target demographic for many recruiters, mostly young, educated professionals working on an advanced degree. And they are almost all on Facebook and LinkedIn. So what do they think about recruiters and employers 'snooping' around their social networking profiles? Here are a few of the best comments from the class:
The general consensus was 'beware what you post online':
Even though we might not like it, we have to realize that employers are going to be googling our names and we have to be careful about the type of information we put online, because if we put it there it is fair game for anyone to see. - 'S
On the usefulness of Social Networking in onboarding and relationship building:
If employees can be 'friends' with their manager on facebook then that could help them to have a mentor. It's a safe and informal way for the employees to interact with their managers on a social level where they can learn from each other. - 'A'
One student astutely observes ways in which the progressive organization is starting to leverage these social networks in a more positive manner:
For example, companies and organizations have taken up these social networking sites to create their own business networks as a motivation to maximize interaction and networking among their own employees, even with the CEO. It not only limits to the networking connections, but to more job opportunities. For example, I have noted one CEO posting on Twitter about job opportunities. - 'V'
There were many other comments and observations in the discussion, some students really wishing that their Facebook information would remain strictly personal and never be used in a professional situation. But realistically, they realize that the horse is out of the barn, and anything they post on any site is likely ot one day be scrutinized by employers and recruiters.
A really good discussion, any one have a recommendation for the next HR Tech issue we should discuss?