BUS 303 week 5 Discussion 2 SOCIAL MEDIA

SOCIAL MEDIA

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Discussion 2

The use of social media for job seeking has increased in the recent past, according to Nigel Wright recruitment (2011) more than half of job seekers in the UK use social media to search for employment.

Social networking sites (SNSs) can be a great tool in the hands of HR practitioner in finding the right candidate because it is used to attract and target a specific group of potential employees. It is also efficient, reduces recruiting costs and time involved, compared to traditional forms of recruitment.

SNSs enable HR managers to reach a wider audience of potential employees, both locally and internationally and hence enabling them to attract more qualified candidates. SNSs also help to gather much more information about potential employees than what they would otherwise present in a cover letter or CV. (Bohnert & Ross, 2010) argues that unprofessional behavior such as alcohol consumption and drug taking displayed on social media can reduce a person’s chance of being hired. However, this can also attract charges of discrimination by unsuccessful job applicants.

The use of SNSs for Screening of candidates based on information posted on SNSs may attract charges of breach of employee privacy and this can lead to lawsuits and resulting in hefty fines. It also impact on HR policies such as anti-discrimination, older applicants who might not be using SNSs may feel unfairly locked out (Davison, Maraist and Bing, 2011).

Reference

Davison, H. K., Maraist, C. & Bring, M.N. (2011). Friend or foe? The promise and pitfalls of using social networking sites for HR decisions. Journal of Business Psychology, 26 (2), 153-159

Bohnert, D.Ross, W.H (2010). The influence of social networking web sites on the evaluation of job candidates.Cyberpsychology,behavior and social networking ,341-347