Social media background checks allow employers to learn as much as possible about candidates’ online persona and identity. They have become common during pre-employment screening, as social media profiles often contain many details that don’t appear in resumes and cover letters.
In this article, we’ll explore social media background checks in depth. You’ll learn why employers run them, what the pros and cons of these checks are, and how to prepare for them when looking for a job. Without further ado, let’s dive right in!
Key Takeaways
Employers conduct social media background checks and look at candidates’ profiles to gauge their skills, experience, and character.
Digital background checks can result in faster hiring decisions while allowing professionals to highlight their creativity, soft skills, and technical competence.
Some cons of social media background checks are discrimination concerns and the fact that they can provide inaccurate or irrelevant information.
To prepare for a social media background check, you should update your privacy settings, clean up your profiles, and be mindful of future posts and interactions.
What Is a Social Media Background Check?
A social media background check refers to the audit of job candidates’ social media profiles that employers conduct when hiring someone. They examine platforms like Facebook, Instagram, X (formerly known as Twitter), LinkedIn, TikTok, and others to gain additional information about applicants.
The process is typically conducted by recruiters, hiring managers, or other professionals with decision-making power in the organization. On top of that, there are specialized social media background screening platforms that conduct both pre-employment analysis and post-hire monitoring.
Social media background checks are becoming increasingly popular as more people join these platforms to share various aspects of their private and professional lives. A survey showed that 70% of employers screen potential candidates, while 54% have rejected someone due to the information they found.
The process typically looks for publicly available information, which is often the case with profiles that aren’t private. It includes examining the job seeker’s photos, written posts, comments, likes, etc. This gives HR departments a more complete picture of professionals looking to join their organization, helping them decide whether to hire them or not.
Why Do Employers Run Social Media Background Checks?
Employers run social media background checks to verify whether the applicants are suitable for joining their company. They look for several key aspects, including:
Several Key Aspects:
Professionalism. Many employers—especially traditional companies—look for candidates who present themselves professionally. They want employees to behave dignifiedly both in offices and online, so they examine the ways they behave with others.
Cultural fit. While there are cultural fit interview questions designed to gauge whether a candidate will integrate well into the organization, they often can’t encompass every aspect of someone’s personality. Social media posts and interactions frequently reflect a person’s values, hobbies, and interests, providing a deeper insight into their identity.
Red flags. It’s common knowledge that you can lose your job because of social media, as there have been many instances of people being fired over social media posts. Inappropriate content or offensive language can harm the image of the company, so employers are looking to mitigate these risks by running digital background checks.
Information verification. The information job seekers include in their resumes and cover letters can be difficult to verify, especially if the candidate doesn’t provide a list of references. In these cases, employers run social media background checks to confirm details about candidates’ work history, qualifications, and other claims.
Pros of Social Media Background Checks
Social media background checks offer many benefits in addition to the established reasons why employers run them. Some of the key pros of these background checks for employers and employees include:
Pros:
Faster hiring. Additional information provided by a social media background check can help employers make decisions faster. Moreover, it can also provide a deeper insight into someone’s personality, skills, and qualifications. This can result in a suitable candidate going through fewer rounds of interviews before being recognized as the right choice.
Highlighted creativity. Many professionals (e.g., designers, video editors, content writers, etc.) use social media platforms to showcase their work. When an HR professional runs a social media background check, they’ll see your creative posts and projects, providing them with additional information about your potential.
Showcase of soft skills. While well-written resumes and cover letters are great for highlighting and quantifying your hard skills, soft skills are much more challenging to demonstrate on a document. However, social media posts can provide a deeper understanding of your interpersonal skills, like verbal communication or teamwork.
Demonstration of technical prowess. People adept at social media typically have a certain degree of technical competence. They know how to behave in a digital environment and are comfortable using technology and online platforms. This is broadly applicable but particularly relevant for jobs that require familiarity with modern tools.
Cons of Social Media Background Checks
Social media background checks also come with drawbacks, such as:
Cons:
Discrimination concerns. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 states that employers can’t discriminate based on aspects like race, color, religion, sex, etc. Employers who perform social media background checks can unintentionally develop biases that can influence their decisions, leading to unfair discrimination and even the risk of lawsuits.
Inaccurate information. A lot of people (including seasoned professionals) submit all kinds of posts to their social media platforms, which may not adequately represent their qualifications or character. For instance, outdated posts that a candidate hasn’t deleted can portray them as less skilled than they are.
Irrelevant information. Many social media users post content that is completely irrelevant to their profession. These posts range from funny pics and videos to personal ideas and anecdotes that will provide employers with no insight into candidates' skills for a job application and only waste their time and resources.
Distraction from main qualifications. Plenty of users create content around their talents and interests that don’t apply to the specific role they are applying for. Employers performing a social media background check can fixate on these abilities, which can draw their attention away from details that pertain to their company.
What Information From Social Media Background Checks Mustn’t Influence Hiring Decisions?
There is plenty of information that, even though publicly available, mustn’t influence hiring decisions, including:
Information That Mustn't Influence Hiring Decisions
Protected characteristics. Employers legally mustn’t discriminate based on race, color, religion, sex, and national origin of their employees and job candidates. Asking illegal interview questions or using sensitive information obtained during the social media background check to make a decision can result in severe legal consequences.
Political views. In addition to protected characteristics, political views should not be considered when hiring someone unless they influence the candidate’s ability to do the job. Judging a professional based on their political views is another form of discrimination, and it undermines diversity in the workplace.
Personal interests. Employers shouldn’t consider personal hobbies, interests, and activities outside the workplace unrelated to the profession. People on social media often post their casual and recreational activities, which shouldn’t be used to gauge their professional competence or work ethics.
Past mishaps. Employers should avoid hiring based on outdated posts that don’t reflect the candidate’s current views and abilities. Minor comments, images, or videos from the past that don’t match someone’s current values or character should not represent grounds for disqualification.
Should You Prepare for a Social Media Background Check When Job Hunting?
Yes, you should prepare for a social media background check when job hunting, regardless of the position you’re after. You can take several steps to protect your private information and showcase your work and abilities, so let’s see what those steps are.
#1. Update Privacy Settings
The first thing you should do if you want to restrict who can view your sensitive information, posts, and activity on social media is update your privacy settings. For example, you can put your personal accounts, such as Instagram or TikTok, as friends-only while leaving more professional profiles (e.g., LinkedIn) open.
This simple and effective approach allows you to effortlessly balance your personal and professional online presence. You can maintain the public image you want without deleting private posts or spending much time and effort cleaning them up.
#2. Clean Up Your Profiles
If you can benefit from a social media background check by using your accounts to emphasize your skills and creativity, you should leave your profiles public and clean them up. For instance, you can remove old posts you deem unprofessional or edit some of them to better demonstrate your current character and expertise.
You can also make a habit out of this in the future to further improve your career growth. Before every new upload, ask yourself if what you post on social media is good or bad for getting a job. That way, you’ll have a long-term strategy for leveraging profiles to showcase your expertise.
#3. Align Your Profiles with Your Resume
Employers often perform social media background checks to verify information they find in resumes and cover letters. That’s why you want to ensure that the public details they find on your profiles match the ones you presented in your job application.
They can spot inconsistencies in employment dates or different job titles. These can raise red flags and result in difficult questions during interviews or an outright disqualification of your application.
You should cross-check your social media platforms with one another and with your resume and cover letter. Ensure the details are consistent throughout to present yourself as a competent and accomplished professional.
#4. Be Positive and Professional
Social media background checks involve not just your posts and profiles but also your comments and interactions with others. It’s important to maintain a positive tone in your interactions and avoid losing yourself in heated debates that can harm your reputation in the business world.
Social media affects work in many different ways, and you can only prosper by focusing on providing value in your interactions. Be thoughtful when sharing comments and support others in your network whenever you can, even in casual posts. This demonstrates a professional demeanor and plenty of positive interpersonal characteristics employers look for in candidates.
Final Thoughts
While not having social media can make it hard to get a job, the profiles you do have should be optimized to improve your chances. This includes cleaning up your posts and making them more professional or simply putting your public accounts private if you don’t want others to see your content and activities.
Employers and HR departments might look into your posts and interactions to gauge your abilities and character, and you can use that to your advantage. You can leverage your social media skills to make your accounts captivating and increase your chances of landing the job.
Social Media Background Check FAQ
#1. How do I clean up my social media profiles before a job application?
One of the easiest ways to clean up your social media profiles before a job application is to make them private. However, if you want employers to see your profiles, you should clean up or delete inadequate posts and spruce up your social media to look professional.
#2. Can employers access my private social media accounts?
Employers can’t access your private social media accounts, and they can’t ask for your password to see protected information, either. However, they might still be able to see some content, such as your mutual connections with other professionals or comments on public accounts.
#3. How can I use social media to improve my chances of getting hired?
You can use social media to improve your chances of getting hired by showcasing your work and skills. This is especially important for LinkedIn, where you can optimize your profile to highlight your job-related experience, education, certifications, accomplishments, and more.
#4. Are there any legal limitations for employers conducting social media checks?
Yes, there are legal limitations for employers conducting social media checks. For starters, they can’t request your passwords for your social media accounts to gain access to private information. Furthermore, they can’t use social media to discriminate based on characteristics like race, religious affiliations, gender, etc.
