Industry News
Online Applicant Screening Pose Problems for Applicants and Employers
A growing trend among employers is to conduct job applicant screening online using
search engines and social-networking web sites. Since material uploaded to these
sites never seems to go away, it is reasonable to question how potential employers
will view material that was published when a job applicant was in high school or
college.
According to employment law attorney, Jeanine DeBacker with Rosen Black & Dean
in Oakland, California, it is important for employers to "remember that people coming
into the work force do not always know the proper way to behave." Her point, while
kind to job applicants, will probably not change the responses of hiring mangers
to what they encounter on these sites.
In 2006, CareerBuilder.com conducted a survey of 1,150 hiring managers and found
that 25 percent of them reported using search engines to screen job applicants and
one in 10 said they used social-networking sites. More than half of these hiring
managers chose not to hire an applicant after viewing their online profiles.
"When I'm talking to HR people, it's just a reminder that one reason to think about
not looking at certain sites [when doing background checks on applicants], is that
you can't un-ring the bell. You want to make a decision based on their qualifications,"
says DeBacker.
Another view of this issue is expressed by the Delaware law firm of Young, Conway,
Stargatt & Taylor, LLP published on their blog site, The Delaware
Employment Law Blog, where they identified ten reasons employers should
conduct online screening. Among the ten are:
- Resume Fraud. An estimated 52 percent of applicants
lie on their resumes.
- Limited Access to Information. Employers are reluctant
to provide more information than required and hesitant to respond to reference requests.
- Screen Out Bad Apples. The U.S. Department of Labor
estimates that the average cost of a bad hiring decision can equal 30 percent of
the employee's potential earnings during the first year of employment.
- Claims of Negligent Hiring and Retention. Employers
can be sued if they fail to use reasonable care in the selection process. Failure
to properly screen applicants can result in legal liability.
"Finding the right job applicant is important and has long-range implications for
a company," says Amy Murphy, director of Joliet Junior College's Corporate and Community
Services division. "We offer professional assistance in the screening process that
involves testing, interviewing, and background checking. And we do it for both large
and small businesses."
To read more about using online screening, go to:
http://www.delawareemploymentlawblog.com/2008/08/top_10_reasons_why_employers_s.html
http://www.smartmoney.com/theproshop/index.cfm?story=20071213
To find out about job screening services offered by Joliet Junior College, call
Amy Murphy at (815) 280-1418, or e-mail amurphy@jjc.edu.
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