What can employers learn from a job candidate's Facebook postings?

Organisations know that job candidates are presenting an idealised version of themselves in their CV and at interview. According to reports, many recruiters are therefore taking to social media to find an uncensored version of their applicants. Is this fair and what can they learn? A new study, led by William Stoughton and his colleagues at North Carolina State University, suggests that employers should beware jumping to conclusions based on what they find about applicants on Facebook. Stoughton's team invited hundreds of undergrads to apply for a real temporary research assistant position. Of those who were also on Facebook and who agreed to a follow-up survey, this left 175 undergrads, average age 19, with 63 per cent female. The survey included measures of the Big Five personality traits (extraversion, conscientiousness etc) and questions about the students' activity on Facebook. In particular, they were asked how much they tended to engage in "bad mouthing" (e.g. how often have you criticised your employer or professors on Facebook?) and how much they posted updates about their drinking or drug use (e.g. how often during the past year have you posted photos of yourself drinking alcohol?) Students who admitted to badmouthing on Facebook tended to score lower on agreeableness and conscientiousness. No real surprises there, although only low agreeableness retained a statistically significant association with badmouthing when the influence of all five personality ...
Source: BPS RESEARCH DIGEST - Category: Psychiatrists and Psychologists Authors: Source Type: blogs