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How To Use LinkedIn For Job Hunting or Networking

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The folks over at cio.com have an excellent article on how to use LinkedIn Company Profiles to do research for job hunting and networking.

“Company profile pages on LinkedIn can help you tune into a company’s comings and goings, executive relationships, key business facts, and more. Here’s how to search and use LinkedIn Company Profiles to your best advantage.”

The article can be found here.

View Chris Miller's profile on LinkedIn

The Dangers of Using Social Networks for Employee Screening

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Employee Screening Through Social Networks is one of the top ten trends in the employee screening industry for 2009.

Jackie Ford, who is a partner in the employment law group at Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease, LLP, wrote an article about this hot topic in today’s MarketWatch:

Various studies suggest that upwards of 40% of employers have trolled Facebook and other social networking sites for information on potential hires — and that when they find negative information on these sites, more than 80% of the employers factor that information into their hiring decisions.
Given how common the practice is, are employers well advised to use whatever information they can, from wherever they can? Not so fast.

While there is no specific prohibition on checking an applicant’s Facebook page, employers should carefully weigh the potential hazards before entering these waters.

Read four of the biggest traps for the unwary.

Photo Credit: luc legay

Social Networks and Stupid Employees

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I just watched a video “The Stupidest Employee Ever?” on the Ohio Employer’s Law Blog. In the video a Burger King employee took a bath in the restaurant’s utility sink and then posted it on YouTube. In my previous post Employee Screening Through Social Networks I wrote about social networks blurring the line between “business” and “pleasure”. This employee definitely blurred the line and gets my vote.

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Employee Screening Through Social Networks

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As recently as 10 years ago, screening your job candidates meant picking up the phone and calling their past employers and references. Sometimes, making these phone calls yielded valuable information. Other times, candidates’ relationships with the people you called would influence their opinions.

Over the past few years, social networking websites such as MySpace, LinkedIn and Facebook have provided employers with an opportunity to look at potential employees in a different light.

The beauty of social networks is they invite people to share their lives, thoughts and opinions…all in public. I’ve noticed social networks are blurring the line between “business” and “pleasure”. This can get tricky for employers. Federal and state laws prohibit employment discrimination based on age, race, color, religion, sex or disability. Employers need to be careful when using information from a social network in making a hiring decision. There are no lawsuits yet but I think it is just a matter of time until an employer is sued for using a social network to screen candidates.

Here are some suggestions for employers:

1. Consult with your attorney and develop written policies and non-discriminatory procedures for using social networks to screen candidates.

2. Obtain written consent from applicants so they are aware you will be looking at their online profiles and personal information.

3. If a website is searched by a background screening firm on behalf of an employer, then consent and disclosure are required under the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA).

4. Employers should never use fake identities or engage in “pretexting” to gain access to information on social networks.

5. The safest approach is to perform a social network search after there is consent and a job offer is made contingent upon completion of a satisfactory background check.