Online reputation, employers and the rise of social media

           

The recruitment process has certainly evolved since Mrs Doubtfire last applied for a job.

When law student Katherine Buskariol,21, was preparing for her imminent clerkship applications, she decided that she would need to examine her online footprint with a fine-toothed comb.

She proceeded to delete a number of inappropriate status updates and photographs in the realisation that an increasing number of employers will now search potential employees on the internet before they decide to hire them.

“I believe that in the professional world, employers will look at that kind of stuff,” said Buskariol. “A photo or an inappropriate comment might be the difference.” 

Spokesman for SEEK Australia, Peter Osborne, concedes that this trend is becoming increasingly prevalent, revealing to the ABC in March that job recruiters ‘could be rejected’ if they have inappropriate content online:

"It is becoming more common for recruiters and prospective employers to use social and online media to check the profile and credentials of candidates - after all, the internet is a rich source of information," said Osborne.

Employment website ‘CareerBuilder’ commissioned a study earlier this year conducted by Harris Interactive and found that 37 percent of hiring managers use social networking sites to research applicants and a further 11 percent would consider to do so in the future. UK business psychology firm OPP conducted independent research and have argued that around 56% of employers check an applicant's Facebook, LinedIn and twitter. Of the 2,000 people surveyed by Harris Interactive, over 65 percent of that group using Facebook as their primary resource, 12 percents were specifically looking for reasons NOT to hire that person and 65 percent used the resource to see if the applicant "presents him- or herself professionally." 

These figures may appear inherently disconcerting  - but it is a reality that in the contemporary digital age, employers will now explore all avenues in order to assess the suitability of a potential employee.

In March 2012 Forbes.com revealed that an alarming number of employers in the US were even requesting  access to their applicants’ Facebook pages as a condition of employment. 

As a result, the U.S Senate introduced the 'Password Protection Act 2012.' This Act now prohibits an employer from:

“Forcing prospective or current employees to provide access to their own private account as a condition of employment and … from discriminating or retaliating against a prospective or current employee because that employee refuses to provide access to a password-protected account.”  

Although Peter Osborne argues that there have been no reported incidents of this occuring in Australia, it highlights the potential impact for social media to mould and shape contemporary employment and recruitment strategies.

Alex Stuart, Managing partner of Stuart Lawyers, concedes that he will always screen potential legal clerks and employers on LinkedIn prior to hiring them.

“Yes, we  definitely search linked in,” said Stuart. “We search it because it is a good tool; it helps us ascertain if they have any professional backgrounds.’

Although Katherine Buskariol may be conscious of the increasing tendency of employers to ‘screen’ potential candidates, the reality is that a number of students are still unaware of the potential impact a seemingly innocent (yet mildly inappropriate) post or an appearance on 'Embarrassingnightclubphotos.com' may have on their employment prospects.

http://www.embarrassingnightclubphotos.com/ This is why the ‘Traceable’ web feature will be so valuable for students; it will provide case studies, statistics and comprehensive interviews with employers and recruitment agencies to examine the potential impact of our online footprint. Through including a series of interviews, profiles, a 'How to' section and a number of informative and engaging videos such as the one below, 'Traceable' will explore how individuals can construct and project a positive identity through social media.

 I created a Facebook post early last week asking anyone to contact me if they had any adverse experiences with social media, specifically if social media had ever inhibited  their prospects of securing a job. An alarming number of people contacted me via personal message, sharing their personal experiences. Mike Taylor, 23, had reached the last interview stage with a high-profile firm when a recruitment agent notified him that they could not hire him on the basis of an inappropriate post and picture on Facebook. Alike many other students, he did not realise the implications of a slightly distasteful profile pricture.  

This ‘Facebook’ experiment was an extremely valuable one, for it reinforced the importance of  our web feature to students and potential employees. ‘Traceable’ will be interactive and engaging; it will include a forum thread in order to encourage two-way discussion, providing an opportunity for users to ask questions, share tips and stories concerning the management of their online reputation. 

The business of reputation management

 In 1940, two brothers decided to open a restaurant that sold hot chips, hamburgers and drinks. Richard and Maurice McDonald’s idea wasn’t original; many people had done this before.

But why is it that 70 years on, their idea is now the world’s largest fast food chain, feeding 46 million people a day?

The answer is branding and reputation management.

Voltaire once said:

 “Originality is nothing but judicious imitation. 

The most original writers borrowed one from another.”

And neither is the idea of reputation management an original one. Ever since people have been providing products and services, there have always been those around to help manage their brand.

Reputation management lies at the heart of the success of businesses both big and small, including McDonalds.

Particularly in times of crisis, businesses are forced to go into full scale damage control mode in order to protect their reputation.

Take the Ribena crisis for example. As The Guardian reported:

“Two New Zealand schoolgirls humbled one of the world's biggest food and drugs companies after their school science experiment found that their ready-to-drink Ribena contained almost no trace of vitamin C.”

McDonald’s is also no stranger to this kind of scrutiny. The fast food chain has found itself in hot water many a times for advertising of their products as nutritionally good for you.

In circumstances such as these, the importance of reputation management is highlighted.

But being in the midst of the digital age has brought new challenges to the idea of reputation management.

70% of people have faith in consumer opinions posted online, a 2009 Nielsen study found.

This means that 70% of people will believe what is written about your business online. Whether the content is true or not, defamatory or not, or created by you or someone else, it will most likely be believed.

In light of this, managing reputation online has never been more important to the success of a business.

With so many blogs already devoted to online reputation management, how will we make our blog, Traceable, and our web feature different from all the other features out there on reputation management?

Firstly, there are not a lot of features aimed at students aged 16-25 years old. So we will aim our feature at this target user group as a means of helping them to learn about the potential pitfalls of using the internet and social media in particular.

In the digital age that we are in, learning how to shape, manage and mould one’s reputation is imperative to job prospects.

So showing this age group not only how to manage their own reputation, but how their potential employers manage the reputation of a business would be a different spin which we would put on the feature.