CHICAGO, May 14, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Avoiding a
professional online presence may be hurting your chances of finding
a new job. More than one third of employers (35 percent) say they
are less likely to interview job candidates if they are unable to
find information about that person online, according to
CareerBuilder's annual social media recruitment survey.
The national survey was conducted on behalf of CareerBuilder by
Harris Poll between February 11 and March 6,
2015 and included a representative sample of more than 2,000
full-time, U.S. hiring and human resources managers across
industries and company sizes.
Social media recruitment on the rise
Fifty-two percent
of employers use social networking sites to research job
candidates, up significantly from 43 percent last year and 39
percent in 2013.
"Researching candidates via social media and other online
sources has transformed from an emerging trend to a staple of
online recruitment," said Rosemary
Haefner, chief human resources officer at CareerBuilder. "In
a competitive job market, recruiters are looking for all the
information they can find that might help them make decisions.
Rather than go off the grid, job seekers should make their
professional persona visible online, and ensure any information
that could dissuade prospective employers is made private or
removed."
Haefner points out that most recruiters aren't intentionally
looking for negatives. Six in ten (60 percent), in fact, are
"looking for information that supports their qualifications for the
job," according to the survey. For some occupations, this could
include a professional portfolio. Fifty-six percent of recruiters
want to see if the candidate has a professional online persona, 37
percent want to see what other people are posting about the
candidate, and 21 percent admit they're looking for reasons not to
hire the candidate.
Additionally, 51 percent of hiring managers use search engines
to research candidates.
Social media recruitment by industry
Hiring managers
in information technology and financial services are the most
likely to use social networks to screen candidates; retail had the
lowest share.
- Information Technology: 76 percent
- Financial Services: 64 percent
- Sales: 61 percent
- Professional & Business Services: 54 percent
- Manufacturing: 49 percent
- Health Care: 49 percent
- Retail: 46 percent
Hiring managers sending friend requests
Thirty-five
percent of employers who screen via social networks have requested
to "be a friend" or follow candidates that have private accounts.
Of that group, 80 percent say they've been granted permission.
Content can help and hurt job prospects
Depending on
what hiring managers find, candidates' online information can help
or hurt their odds of getting a job. Forty-eight percent of hiring
managers who screen candidates via social networks said they've
found information that caused them not to hire a candidate – down
slightly from 51 percent last year. The following are the top
pieces of content that turned off employers:
- Provocative or inappropriate photographs – 46 percent
- Information about candidate drinking or using drugs – 40
percent
- Candidate bad-mouthed previous company or fellow employee – 34
percent
- Poor communication skills – 30 percent
- Discriminatory comments related to race, religion, gender, etc.
– 29 percent
About one-third (32 percent), however, found information that
caused them to hire a candidate, including:
- Candidate's background information supported job qualifications
–42 percent
- Candidate's personality came across as good fit with company
culture – 38 percent
- Candidate's site conveyed a professional image – 38
percent
- Candidate had great communication skills – 37 percent
- Candidate was creative – 36 percent
Script flipped
A separate survey found that some savvy
job seekers are using social media to their own benefit. One in
seven (15 percent) workers check out hiring managers on social
media, with 38 percent of that group seeking to directly interact
with the individual.
Survey Methodology
This survey was conducted online
within the U.S. by Harris Poll on behalf of CareerBuilder among
2,175 hiring and human resource managers ages 18 and over (employed
full-time, not self-employed, non-government) and 3,105 employees
ages 18 and over (employed full-time, not self-employed,
non-government) between February 11 and
March 6, 2015 (percentages for some questions are based on a
subset, based on their responses to certain questions). With pure
probability samples of 2,175 and 3,105, one could say with a 95
percent probability that the overall results have sampling errors
of +/- 2.10 and +/- 1.76 percentage points,
respectively. Sampling error for data from sub-samples is
higher and varies.
About CareerBuilder®
CareerBuilder is the global
leader in human capital solutions, helping companies target and
attract great talent. Its online career site, CareerBuilder.com®,
is the largest in the United
States with more than 24 million unique visitors and 1
million jobs. CareerBuilder works with the world's top employers,
providing everything from labor market intelligence to talent
management software and other recruitment solutions. Owned by
Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE:GCI), Tribune Company and The McClatchy
Company (NYSE:MNI), CareerBuilder and its subsidiaries operate in
the United States, Europe, South
America, Canada and
Asia. For more information, visit
www.careerbuilder.com.
Media Contact
Ryan
Hunt
773-527-6923
ryan.hunt@careerbuilder.com
http://www.twitter.com/CareerBuilderPR
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SOURCE CareerBuilder