Social media screening has become a good way for an employer to look beyond the resume and interview when hiring candidates, and it can be used to help you create a more inclusive workplace at the same time. Everyone tries to put their best foot forward during an interview, so they will try to conceal undesirable traits that are not inclusive, so you are unlikely to learn these behaviors that way. Companies have been working on how to form initiatives to help their company culture be more progressive and inclusive, and social media screening can help.
Social media screening can redefine what you may consider employable from a job candidate. A criminal background check is helpful, but it is no longer the only screening tool available. Social media can show you traits that the candidate was not charged with, which can be more toxic sometimes than previous convictions.
You want a more inclusive workforce, which means that you want people that can help drive inclusivity with you. This means you want to weed out candidates who have a history of discrimination, and while you are unlikely to see such traits in an interview, you can find them on social media.
You would not want to hire someone who actively posts hate speech and violence against anyone different from them; even if they do not say it in person, saying it online is just as bad. You also would not want to hire someone who is often sharing posts that are bullying or about the use of illegal drugs. Depending on your business, you may also want to avoid people who post about extreme political views, which is another thing social media can highlight for you.
There are plenty of people who have a tendency to overshare on social media, posting every little thing happening in their life, what they are doing, where they go, and any tiny problem they have. This can make it more difficult for you to conduct a screening of the person while keeping their protected information out of the equation. However, if they have qualities you do not want in an inclusive environment, they might be oversharing those traits. Social media screening can be difficult, especially if you are conducting it on your own instead of employing a screening service to do it for you.
There is protected information on social media that may lead to an unconscious bias in hiring, including traits like race, class, age, sexual orientation, and religion. That is where ACUTRAQ comes in. We look at the information you need to make a decision while filtering out all of the protected information that might sway your hiring decisions to help you avoid unconscious discrimination. You will be able to have more inclusivity in your workforce with social media screening, and you will be able to avoid discrimination by having ACUTRAQ screen the employees for you.
