Social Network Recruiting: What Are the Implications of This New Hiring Model?

• Author: Mary Beth Currie
• Pages: 75-93



SocialNetworkRecruiting

WHATARETHEIMPLICATIONS

OFTHISNEWHIRINGMODEL

MaryBethCurrie*

TheuseofsocialmediaintherecruitingprocessisanewtoolTodate

thereisadearthofcaselawinOntarioconsideringtheextenttowhich

anemployermaysafelyutilizesocialmediaintherecruitmentprocess

Howeverthesamelegalframeworkthatappliestobricksandmortar

recruiting wi ll continue to applyto th is new tool Sowh ile employ-

ersmayutilizesocialmediaintherecruitingprocesstodrawfroma

broaderpoolandtodeterminewhichcandidatesbestttherolemore

accuratelytheyalsoneedtobeawarethattheyfaceagreaterriskofhu-

manrightschallengesparticularlyiftheyscreenoutcandidatesbased

onthedigitalndingsearlyintheprocess

The statistics reported below make it clear that t here is an explo-

sivegrowthinsocialmediabackgroundcheckingofpublicinformation

aboutcandidatesduringtherecruitmentprocessThoseemployerswho

areengagedinsuchareviewneedtoimplementandconsistentlyfol-

lowaprocessthatiscarefullydesignedtocomplywithapplicablepri-

vacyhumanrightsandotherstatutesthatgovernthecollectionanduse

ofthedigitalinformation

* MaryBethCurrieispartnerandcoheadofEmploymentServiceswithBenne

JonesLLPShealsowritesacolumnforTheOccupationalHealthandSafetyCompli

anceReport

MBC

AWHATISSOCIALMEDIA

ThereseemstobenoonedenitionAlistofthirtydenitionsprovided

by a variety of social media marketi ng and PR professionals can be

found at this link hpheidicohencomsocialmediadenitionO ne

denitionincludedisthefollowing

Socialmediaisacollectionofonlineplatformsandtoolsthatpeople

use to share content proles opinion s insights experiences per-

spectivesandmediaitselffacilitatingconversationsandinteractions

onlinebetweengroupsofpeople

• SocialMediaistheplatformtools

• SocialNetworkingistheactofconnectingonsocialmediaplat-

forms

• SocialMediaMarketingishowbusinessesjointheconversationin

anauthenticandtransparentwaytobuildrelationships

TheOceofthePrivacyCommissionerofCanadadenesSocialNet-

workingSitesSNSsuchasFacebookLinkedInandMySpaceinthis

way

ASNSisawebbasedservicethatprovidesawayforuserstointeract

withanonlinecommunityornetworkofpeoplewithacommoninter-

estegfriendsfamilyrecreationalinterestsetcSNSallowindividual

userstoconstructapersonalprolewithinthewebsitespecifyalist

ofotheruserswithwhomtheyhaveaconnectionandviewtheirlist

ofcontactsinadditiontothecontactsofotherusersonthesiteIndi-

vidualsonSNScaninteractwithoneanotherusingemailinstantmes-

sagingservicesorlesharing

BHOWISSOCIALMEDIAUSEDINTHE

RECRUITMENTPROCESS

Overthepastfewyearsmanyrecruitershavestartedtoleveragesocial

networkingsitestosourcetalentandbuildrelationshipswithindivid-

ualswhomayonedaybecandidatesOthersuseittoverifyinformation

providedbythecandidateduringtherecruitmentprocessWhatseems

clearisthatuseofsocialmediabyemployersinrecruitmenteortsis

exploding

 DenitionbyDoreenMorandigitalandsocialmarketingstrategist

 Onlinewwwprivgccaresourcefsdsneasp