A Cross-Sectional Study of the Impact of Social Networking Sites on Organizational Recruiting and Selection Practices.

摘要

In the past decade, social networking sites (SNSs) have transformed the way people do business. SNSs allow individuals to connect globally and instantaneously. These connections; however, generate user profiles that provide an abundance of personal and behavioral information that can be used as a management tool in the recruiting and selection processes (Thomas, Rothschild, & Donegan, 2015). Employers can, with relative ease and low cost, access information that would not have been otherwise available. Regulations surrounding SNSs are almost non-existent and research regarding SNSs is limited. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine who was retrieving job applicant information, what type of information was being viewed, and what Human Resource (HR) professionals were doing with the information they retrieved from potential job applicants' SNSs. The study revealed that there are HR professionals (approximately 52% of the population studied) who were mining data from potential applicants and that the majority of HR personnel were aware of equal employment opportunity regulations. The information retrieved was primarily information that could benefit HR professionals, such as comparing what was said on the application or resume and the applicant's professionalism and volunteerism. However, there were individuals that were retrieving data that could be deemed discriminatory under EEO regulations (age, military status, disabilities, etc.) even though the study revealed that most HR professionals were aware of discrimination laws. To ensure that the HR professionals are not pulling information that could separate a prospective job applicant from.