Employer social media use increased 500% in past decade

Dive Brief:

A recent survey found that employers are hanging out on social media more than ever, as their use of social networking to screen job candidates has increased by 500% in the past decade.
CareerBuilder's annual social media recruitment survey found that 60% of employers use social networking sites to research job candidates. Last year it was 52%, in 2008 it was 22% and in 2006 it was 11%, when the survey was first done. Additionally, 59% of hiring managers use search engines to research candidates – compared to 51% in 2015.
Most hiring managers aren't intentionally looking for negatives, the survey found. Sixty percent of employers who currently use social networking sites to research job candidates are "looking for information that supports their qualifications for the job," according to the survey. Hiring managers in information technology (76%) and sales (65%) are the most likely to use social networks to screen candidates, while manufacturing (56%) and professional/business services (55%) were least likely.

Dive Insight:

An interesting data point from the survey is that more than two in five employers (41%) say they are less likely to interview job candidates if a person doesn't have an online presence — a 6% increase since last year. In addition, 53% of hiring managers want to see if the candidate has a professional online persona, 30% want to see what other people are posting about the candidate, and 21% admit they're seeking reasons not to hire the candidate.

As for those already in the fold, 41% of employers say they use social networking sites to research current employees, nearly a third (32%) use search engines to check up on current employees, and more than one in four (26%) have found content online that has caused them to reprimand or fire an employee.

Naturally, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn remain the big social media players. But experts also say that "niche" players are entering the field, providing recruiters with even more social networks to utilize. "Social search" may emerge, as well.