Social Media in Employment

SOCIAL MEDIA IN EMPLOYMENT

Eureka Monette

Human Resources Management, BUS 101

Spring 2015

Jason Martin

Social Media in Hiring and Firing

Social networks offer a window into how people live their lives; but should employers be looking into that window? It’s becoming an increasingly important question. The number of people fired over social-media posts is rising, and many employers look closely at a job candidate’s online presence before making a decision. However, while it is important for companies to know who they are hiring, this essay will discuss why it is ethical to rely on information found on the internet in making hiring and firing decisions and the privacy of the employee.

Evaluation of online profiles and social networking sites as basis for job consideration blurs the line between one’s personal and one’s public life. Some see such actions as crossing the line between what is public and what is private. Whereas others state that if it is on the internet, it is already made public, so why not consider and include it as a vital source of information when you are applying for a job? Any social media sites are able to provide employers with an unedited version of their prospective job candidates, which comes in handy when selecting from an array of job seekers. Living and working in a society where jobs are already difficult to come by, employers have become extra careful whom they offer positions to. Just as resumes, and recommendations were the means of the past for gaining information on candidates, online profiles are now an alternate window on the individual.

After reading the 2010 article: “Using Social Networking Websites For Hiring Decisions: Legal and Ethical Considerations” by Peter G. Smith and Whit L Wyatt, fact is that Facebook and other social networking sites are currently a very useful tool for employers. People have control on how their Facebook profile pictures appear and thus have certain agency...