Facebook and Bebo are becoming increasingly popular recruitment tools, a survey by Personnel Today and law firm Charles Russell has revealed.
A study of more than 220 HR professionals found that using social networking sites to research potential candidates proved the most popular method amongst employees in the media, finance industries and professional services, with 35% of HR bosses within these divisions confessing to do so.
One respondent freely admitted using such sites to headhunt are research potential new employees: “We have no concerns currently, we use [social networking sites] a lot to recruit people for the organisation.”
The majority (73%), however, avoid using such means to source staff citing unreliable information as a primary reason to steer clear. Julie Weston, HR Director for charity British Heart Foundation warned that these methods could be misleading.
“We would not use Facebook to check candidate information as the validity and reliability of the information is questionable,” she said. “Also we believe it to be too intrusive to a candidate’s private life.”
According to the poll, the charity and retail industries are the least likely to adopt such methods, with children’s charities voicing their disapproval last week and calling for a ban of employers using such ways in the hiring process.
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