Social media a new breeding ground for prospective employee research

Employers who use background screening service Tandem Select to check a prospective applicant's history can now use social media and publicly available web content as part of their hiring process, the company has announced. "Companies are increasingly scanning social media networks including Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, YouTube, LinkedIn and individual blogs, but they may not be doing it efficiently or thoroughly," said Jerry Thurber, President of Tandem Select. Tandem Select has partnered with Social Intelligence Corporation, a company that specializes in protecting human resources services from liabilities, their website notes. The partnership will enable hiring managers to safely utilize social media as a legitimate tool to narrow down prospective employees, without the risk of legal action resulting from privacy issues. A recent survey conducted by Microsoft found that 75 percent of U.S.-based recruiters and human resources departments have policies that require personnel to research job applicants online, according to the Stokes, Lazarus and Carmichael LLP website. Additionally, 70 percent of respondents mentioned that they rejected candidates based on information they had found on the internet.