Employers want to use every tool at their disposal for vetting potential employees – social media is one area that is more “gray” and, while HR departments realize its value, they have many questions about its use, and how to go about vetting a candidate socially.

The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) recently published a study around the topic of social media’s use for employment screenings and recruitment. Key findings show that:

• 43% state that they have used social media research or online searches during the screening/vetting process.

• 36% have disqualified a potential candidate based on something found in an online search or in a public social media site.

Rob Walker, The Workologist columnist in the New York Times responded to a question on how HR departments can manage social media for employment screening. The response explains it very simply – HR departments should make use of what’s available, and be cautious, but not overly cautious.

Some of the top concerns HR departments have when it comes to using social media as a screening tool include:

• Not being able to “unsee” information that they shouldn’t in order to be compliant (ie age, race, marital status, etc), that is easily found when looking at a person’s social media profile

• How to go about incorporating social media research – what’s the best method, at what point in the process should this be done, etc?

These concerns may be keeping HR departments from jumping into the social media arena, and they may be missing vital information to help with the decision making process. There are many ways that concerns can easily be addressed.

• Use a formal social media research program – whether it’s an outsource or an internal program, using a formal program or software geared toward HR can go a long way. For one, it will be compliant with state and federal laws with regard to employment; there is no chance to see things that you shouldn’t, as that type of information is stripped from the search results. Additionally, a third party vendor will add credibility to the research, which will be a benefit should issues ever arise.

• Only use public information – don’t try “friending” or connecting with potential candidates. Privacy settings help those who want to keep some of their social activity from the public arena, and that needs to be respected. A strong social media program only looks at public data – if information is uncovered by viewing someone’s Facebook content that you’re “friends” with, there is a chance that the person has their settings to only show content to their friend list – it is not something that a standard social media search would uncover, so it’s off limits to you.

• Use it at the right time – while that “right time” may vary and is still unclear at this point, deciding when to use it and being consistent will help with your strategy. Using social media research as a final tool, after the first round of interviews perhaps, will be helpful in learning more about the serious candidates. It’s good to have conversations within your company to determine which point in the process is best prior to rolling it out. Consistently will not only help make the process more efficient, but may help if there is ever a question of legality/discrimination brought up.

The concept of incorporating social media research into employment background checks is not new, but it is being seen more and more as a valuable tool for HR departments. I’m anticipating that this time next year we’ll be seeing it as a standard part of any employment screening. Learning now and developing a solid strategy will give your company the edge in making good hiring decisions.