Employers turning to social media, search engines to ‘learn truth about job seekers’

Sydney: A majority of employers and recruiters are now using social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, search engines and criminal records to learn the truth about job seekers.

A survey conducted by Australia-based software firm Nuage Software showed over half of human resource managers surveyed ran a Google search on candidates, 74 per cent checked LinkedIn, 23 per cent Facebook and three per cent Twitter. According to tech firm Nuage’s managing director David Wilson, some employers are asking to view Facebook and Twitter profiles at interviews in order to avoid privacy concerns, a leading daily has reported. “The internet has a very long memory. An ill-advised or impulsive post can be rapidly replicated across many sites and be impossible to take back," the report quoted Wilson as saying. “People really do enjoy the freedom of expression on social media, but it is worth considering the cumulative effect of their postings,” he added. According to the report, Australia’s National Crime Check managing director Martin Lazarevic said the variety of employers getting police checks on applicants had grown rapidly in the past six months, and as many as one in ten checks were catching people out. ANI