I had an interview recently and made it through to the second stage and was offered the position. I was asked by HR to disclose my social media accounts so that these could be reviewed.
Is this normal practice now? The position didn’t require any form of DBS or enhanced checks.
B
I've no idea if it's 'normal' practice but I do believe it's legal for prospective employers to do such searches. Often done through third party companies who provide such a service. (A person I know is employed by one such company).Originally Posted by bomberman
R
Ignorance breeds Fear. Fear breeds Hatred. Hatred breeds Ignorance. Break the chain.
Very odd. Ive heard of employers searching for your accounts but never asking the candidate for their accounts.
We currently screen any new employees, or prospective clients, including a full social media review.
It's just a matter of time...
Interesting. I can't see that it's unethical if a candidate's social media content is public, but if your X, Facebook, Instagram etc posts are private, ie visible only to people you've accepted then in my view it's not a prospective employer's place to go nosing around in there for something to disapprove of.
Just make your accounts private, or lock the, down as much as possible before providing any details; and then consider keeping them that way if not already.
Does the contract include such terms as any disrepute or similar in relation to the employer from your actions etc.
It's just a matter of time...
...if they're private, they can't see them?
Unless you have to accept your prospective employer and allow them to see your posts?
It isn't lawful, in normal circumstances, for an employer to ask a candidate for social media account details over and above what's in the public domain and they can search for. However, if you're seeking employment in a DV or eDV role then you have to give the details, but not account passwords, as part of the clearance process.
Last edited by Skier; 19th November 2023 at 23:29.
Exactly, if they're private they're not your prospective employer's business so if they ask, I would decline.
The searching criteria is for open source, publiclly available ionformation.
R
Ignorance breeds Fear. Fear breeds Hatred. Hatred breeds Ignorance. Break the chain.
You would be surprised how many people no not have their social media accounts set to private, and post all sorts. These same people then can't understand why they don't get the job offer.
A friend in recruitment has told me many stories. His company was recruiting for the NHS for some time, bit of a worry when a high level consultant/surgeon openly posts on IG his wild weekend away at a friends stag do. Then posting how great he was to go to work on the Monday considering how much coke he had done over the weekend. FFS.
Lolz...mate of ours, back in the day, was one of them High St. Laser eye 'surgeons'...I regularly pitied the poor devils on Mondays' particularly.
A long long time ago, a good mate of mine hurt himself quite badly at a warehouse party, I drove him to A+E and he admitted to the triage nurse he had been enjoying the full rave experience and all that goes with it, the nurse told him not to worry as everyone working there was probably on something as well.... Probably not true but it made us smile at the time.
Cheers..
Jase
How else do the medics stay awake and smiley, for their 48-72 hour shifts...
The potentially scary part is what they include in the screening. Do political views or certain positions on current affairs affect it?
I've been drug tested before as part of the hiring process. All office based jobs and no access to sensitive data so it was confusing but I complied anyway.
You would never know......................
Had a psychometric test prior to employment with one company, but since they had a superintendent who had killed his wife - I thought I was on reasonably-safe grounds.
One company required a chest X-ray ! Told them to FRO with that idea - still got the job !
My son was rejected for a job because of a comment he made in a facebook. It took a lengthy appeal to get it overturned.
Sent from my iPhone using TZ-UK mobile app
Some of the comments above are a little concerning!
How would they know if you have any social media accounts if you simply say none as the users profile has no significance to your name/email address?
Where does it stop, if you comment about a political stance be it to the right or left or an event, who decides what’s right or wrong, what is the criteria of this decision?
This all seems like a slippery slope, maybe it’s an age thing.
B
What? Most people, me included, name their social media accounts with their name and a profile picture of themselves. Thankfully, I only have a meaningful presence one one account and I don't post anything political or otherwise controversial. It's also locked to 'Friends' only and I don't accept requests from anyone I don't know well.
That's rather worse, lying is definitely going to call someone's integrity into question.
Don't just do something, sit there. - TNH
Agreed, but what is the criteria for them to judge if your post/comments are acceptable?
For the record, I accepted another position.
This makes me grateful that I am near retirement and will never have to go through any recruitment hoops again. I don’t think I have ever made any controversial posts online, but who knows what someone in HR might take offence at? I am a very private person, and like to stay anonymous online, as much as that is possible; I definitely would not like a stranger linking me to my posts.
Seems a bit odd to request it after offering you the job. They’ll likely have stalked you beforehand. Unless something has raised a red flag to them?
The offer was made but was subject to access and a satisfactory review of my social media accounts
I am thinking the same from time-to-time.
Apart from that: the extensive search on social media depends on the level and nature of your job, I presume. Someone now working at a Dutch bank had to undergo a pretty intensive scrutiny before he was appointed. He knew that from the start and he was asked politely to give permission. That scrutiny included social media, outstanding debts, background checks and more. Think: links to criminality.
I’ve recently been playing with a lot of current screening options, some of which will interpret social media, likes, posts etc. and provide an interpretation on political leanings amongst many other things etc.
Quite fascinating how this space is evolving at the moment.
It's just a matter of time...
I always told my kids from the time they got social media account to be careful what they posted and to think twice in case it comes back to bite them.
If you look at some of the comments above, its not “kids” that are the problem :)
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