Well, well, well. . .and a ‘hmmmm’ thrown in for good measure. Months ago we started to read articles, critiques, and the like warning perspective job applicants to be wary of contradictions between content on chatty Social Media pages, their multiple online resumes, and their dutiful applications. Recruiters and corporate HR managers were combing the social web for ‘the real story’ about their candidates. For example, an application may have displayed a perfect driving record, but Facebook talked about a recent bevy of speeding tickets. And Twitter revealed several tweets of the same. People sometimes forget that the internet is sort of a dressing room without doors.
Now we’re finding out that the recruiters and corporate HR managers are searching that same social web to source for open jobs. How ’bout that for a twist! In a recent article on Workforce.com: Discriminatory Twist in Networking Sites Puts Recruiters in Peril, issues surface when recruiters and corporate HR staff prowl sites like LinkedIn for perspective job candidates. Why?
According to latest data from Quantcast, only 5 percent of LinkedIn users are black and only 2 percent are Hispanic. Jessica Roe, managing partner at Bernick, Lifson, Greenstein, Greene & Liszt in Minneapolis says this: “Employers don’t want to pay recruiters, so they take the path of least resistance, but they have to look very carefully at the applicant pool and cast a much broader net. Recruiters are often swept up by the latest process. Minor decisions lead to major consequences.”
LinkedIn has – what?, 40,000,000 profiles. 2 percent Hispanic, 2 percent Black. Do the math.
I suspect if a recruiter or an HR staffer uses a balanced approach (multiple postings, multiple access venues, etc.) to find, collect, and review applicants – minorities are generally good to go. But if there is a tipping toward services like LinkedIn? What then?
So, folks. . .what do you think?
