Recruitment via Social Media Sites: A critical

Review and Research Agenda

Robin Kroeze
University of Twente
P.O. Box 217, 7500AE Enschede
The Netherlands

ABSTRACT
Social media is becoming increasingly more important in today’s world. It brings
together supply and demand in recruitment and selection. In addision to this it
also gives employers the possibility to verify potential employers. This article
presents an exploratory investigation on the role of social networking sites in
recruitment. Particularly, the aim is to identify how and why companies use
social media to attract and screen applicants during their recruitment processes
and if applicants know how to use social media sites properly. This article also
examines the advantages and limitations of recruitment through social media for
employers as well as jobseekers. This is done by performing a literature review.
The findings show that companies are currently using social media in
recruitment, but perhaps not as effective as they could be. Several
recommendations and conditions for success are given to help employers and
jobseekers to make the most out of social media in recruitment.

Supervisors:

Tanya Bondarouk, 1st Supervisor

Milana Korotka, 2nd Supervisor

Keywords
Social media, recruitment, social networking, Facebook, LinkedIn, selection, Human Resource Management,
online profile

Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided
that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on
the first page. To copy otherwise, or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission
and/or a fee.

5th IBA Bachelor Thesis Conference, November 5th, 2015, Enschede, The Netherlands.
Copyright 2015, University of Twente, The Faculty of Behavioural, Management and Social sciences

.
1. INTRODUCTION 2. METHODOLOGY
The practice of using social networking sites for pre- Recruitment through social media is a relatively new research
employment screening and selection has become more and area. Seeing how Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter have all been
more popular. This might not seem as a very strange in a world founded after 2003. Therefore I have found that articles that
were every one in four people already have a Facebook account have been published before the year 2000 will probably not be
(Statista, 2015). But is using social media truly a pratical way very relevant in a review about social media recruitment. That
of screening and selecting new employees? Using social media is why I have chosen to only include articles in this review that
might prove to be a potentially promising source of applicants’ have been published between the years 2000 and 2015. I expect
information, but it is also filled with potential risks, legal as that most relevant articles will have been written in the last few
well as ethical. The latter is also the reason why there are years. I don’t expect articles that have been written last year of
conflicting views about using social media in recruitment even this year to have that many citations. Because I did not
among employers and employees as well as legal want to overlook any important and recent articles I have
systems.(Suder, 2014). chosen not to include a minimum number of citations for the
This thesis focuses on recruitment and social media. But what is articles.
meant by recruitment and by social media? To scope this The articles that have been included in the literature review
project I use Sinha & Thaly’s (2013) definitions of have all been written in English. Articles written in other
’recruitment’ and of ’social media’. In which recruitment can be languages have been excluded from this study. This because I
defined as: ‘’a vital function of human resource management, expect the main publications to have been in international
which can be defined as the process of searching the right journals and most of those are written in English.
talent and stimulating them to apply for jobs in the organization.
It is the process of discovering the sources of personnel to meet The fields of research that I have identified to be of relevance
the requirements of the staffing agenda and attracting the for the litarature review have been summarized under the
adequate number of employees, as to be able to make the following keywords:
effective selection among the applicants’’. Social media can be
defined as: ‘’a refers to the Websites, which enable people to  Social sciences
exchange and work together on digital content in virtual  Business & Management
communities (networks). Some of the most popular include the  Computer science
Facebook, Blogger, Twitter, WordPress, LinkedIn, Pinterest,  Decision science
Google+, MySpace and Wikipedia’’. (Sinha & Thaly, 2013)  Human Resource Management
 Recruitment & Selection
So many different things are being written about social media.
What is true and what should we believe? Melanthious et al. I have chosen Scopus as an appropriate database for this
(2015) consider recruitment through social media to be a research project. Scopus is known to be one of the market’s
positive thing. That social networking sites help companies to leading search engines for scientific literature. It provides meta
locate and attract aplicants while it enables them to run information about scientific articles, has the possibility to
background checks. However, they believe that many within the title, abstract and keywords of articles and allow
companies avoid the use of social media and that companies fail batch exportation of article meta information into Excel. I have
to take advantage of the opportunities that social media offers to not used Google Scholar for this research project. This is
recruitment. Compton et al. (2009) and Torrington et al. (2004) because its search results were too broad and it did not limit its
on the other hand say that companies are already using social search to title, abstract and keywords, but included the whole
media effectively and that social media brings an advantage for article. Google Scholar also did not offer direct batch
companies in recruitment. Recruiters can easily access both exportation of article meta information into a third party
national and international applicants. Plummer et al. (2009) program. Web of Science has also not been considered because
think that social media recruitment is not just a positive thing it is hard to extract data from Web of Science to excel.
for companies, but it could also be helpful for jobseekers. It
helps the recruitment process of the jobseeker by making it
more responsive or because jobseekers can access influential After I had chosen my searchforum I needed to distinguish my
referees as well as information that may prepare them better for searchterms. The main searchterms I used were ‘recruitment’,
the job screening process. Others like Kilpatrick (2013) don’t ‘selection’ and ‘networking’. Then I expended them by
think social media is effective in recruitment at all. Because integrating them with words as ‘social media’ and ‘human
none of its tools and systems help recruiters develop their resource management’. After brainstorming I came up with the
judgement or improve their assessment. Nor do they offer ways following research terms: social media recruitment, Linkedin
to manage greater numbers of relationships with clients and recruitment, Facebook recruitment, future recruitment social
candidates. And some like Reiners & Alexander (2013) think media, integration social media in recruitment, social network
that real success through social media in recruitment can only sites recruitment, recruitment & social networking,
be achieved when parties in all countries know and understand opportunities recruitment social media, best practices for using
social rules that influence both the content, style and use of social media as a recruitment, e-recruitment, social media
their posted profiles. employment selection, future employment selection methods
Social network screening, online social networking, employer’s
I was inspired by the diversity of the opinions and practical use social networking sites, evaluating social networking web
complexity of using social media in recruitment. Such an sites, social media in HRM, social media & job application,
inspiration led me to the goal of this study, to explore the most social media and human resource management.
important trends in social media recruitement. I will do this by I used Scopus to search for the terms mentioned above.
performing a literature review. The search for the various research terms on Scopus revealed
1183 results, including duplicats from similar combinations of
research terms leading to the same results. I exported the results
to Excel using the export function that scopus provides. In

.
Excel I used the option to remove duplicate values, this left me 3. FINDINGS
with 1045 articles.
3.1 Advantages and Limitations of Using
Social Media in Recruitment
2.1 Select & Analysis Why should employers and jobseekers be using social media for
To refine the sample of 1183 articles from Scopus, I had to recruitment? What are the advantages and what are the
apply additional filters. First I removed all the articles that were limitations of using social media? Do they differ for employers
published before the year 2000. This reduced the number of and jobseekers or actually the same?
articles in total to 1019. After that I decided that the articles that
came from the search term ‘online social networks’ were to be
removed. I found that it was a much to broad research term and 3.1.1 Advantages for employers
that it did not provide articles that were really interesting for Recruitment through social media differs somewhat from
this review. So the number of articles in total was reduced to recruitment in the old ways. Nowadays, recruiters typically use
819. The same was done for the search term ‘e-recruitment’, social media, not to gain new information (this they obtain
which reduced the number of articles in total to 716. I did this primarily from the candidate’s résumé), but to check if those
for the same reason I excluded ‘online social networks’. résumés are correct and to try to learn something about the
Hereafter articles that did not have that much to do with social applicants’ network (Reiners & Alexander, 2013).
media and recruitment were excluded. I made this decision by An advantage for employers for using social media is that the
reading the titles and the abstract parts of the articles. This left effective range in which recruiters can search for applicants is
the number of articles remaining at 206. The specifics of the much broader. Recruiters can easily access both national and
206 articles were put into columns in Excel. Idependently of international applicants. Selection of applicants can also be
eachother my supervisor and I judge the articles. On 23 of the supported by filtering and cross-checking online resources.
articles we agreed immediately, they were found to be right for Web forms can be standardized and this can help to make the
the review seeing how they were clearly about recruitment search process simpler, it can even help to make it automated
through the use of social media websites. There were 20 articles completely (Compton et al., 2009) (Torrington et al., 2004).
we discussed, from with 7 articles were also chosen. This lead A proportion of the work load has been moved from the
to a number of 30 articles that were considered relevant for the employer to the applicant. Applicants themselves need to make
literature review. A representation of the selection process can sure their social media platforms look well. Moving workload
be seen in Figure 1. from the employer to the jobseekers makes the recruiting
process less expensive for the recruiter. Costs also become
lower because social media websites are (mostly) accessible
Figure 1: Schematic representation of the selection process without costs (Jacobs, 2009). Cost reduction might be a logical
reason for companies to be using social media in recruitment.
SHRM (2008) found that companies use social networking
websites for screening to gain information with little time and
effort (51%). Or to obtain information that is not mentioned in a
cover letter, résumé, or curriculum vita (i.e., CV) (49%).
Companies also use social media to easily verify information in
a cover letter, résumé, or CV (26%), and to assess the applicant
fit with the organization (26%).
Another advantage for companies is that if they use social
media in the proper way they could save time in the recruitment
process. A study by Workforce (2000) claims that online
recruiting has proven to be up to 30% faster than other
traditional hiring methods. According to them this is due to the
elimination of intermediaries and a shorter recruiting cycle.

3.1.2 Limitations for employers

Unfortunately for the employers using social media in
recruitment also has its limitations.
For starters, employers may look at information that has been
provided on social media in the wrong way. Negative
information that has been retrieved from the jobseekers’
personal profile may not be considered in the right context.
They could therefore result in a hasty rejection decision (Brown
& Vaughn 2011, p. 220-221). This could lead to a lawsuit for
the employer. This is very serious consequence. There are also
consequences that might at a first look seem smaller, but could
also have a negative influence on the company. For example, a
study by Madera (2012) showed that an organization that uses
social media sites as a selection tool was perceived as less fair
than an companies that did not use social media in recruitment
and selection. Job pursuit intentions were also found to be lower
for an organization that used social media sites as a selection
tool than for an organization that did not. This study suggests

.
that using social media sites for selection purposes has a exchange of information between the recruiter and jobseekers in
negative impact on the fairness that is perceived in the person (Roberts & Roach, 2009). Both jobseekers and recruiter
selection process. Because of this, organizations should be can maintain, mobilize, and develop their social network more
careful about inviting or encouraging potential applicants to efficiently because of social media. They can both filter out
join their social media sites as part of their selection process. relevant information and use them to create new collaboration
Applicant see privacy violations as unfair and often this leads to opportunities (DeKay, 2009; Girard & Fallery, 2011).
a negative perceptions of the company (Truxillo et al., 2004).
This is obviously not something a company wants.
Another matter that could be considered as negative is that the
3.1.4 Limitations for jobseekers
information available on social media sites may vary The first limitations for jobseekers I found is that jobseekers do
considerably. This makes comparison between applicants not always realize what information about themselves might
unreliable. Information that is available about some of the leak out into the public (Madejski et al., 2011) or how an
jobseekers might not be available about others. Shared ordinary posts or comments might be misunderstood (Wang et
information on social media sites might also be brought in a al., 2011) by a possible future employer. Not just the personal
way that is seen as socially desirable. So there is a very real data they post online themselves can be found, but a possible
possibility that the information on social media sites might be employer could also find personal data uploaded online by
inaccurate (Suder, 2014). others (such as friends, family, or institutions). This information
might be incorrect, it might even damage them as an individual
When employers are using social media for recruitment they (Henson et al., 2011). Online information can also be
also need to be aware of the risks of negligent hiring. If an inaccurate. For example when individuals are become the
employer discovers negative information about a jobseekers victim of identity theft (Connerly et al., 2001), or when false
using social media sites, but decides to ignore the information information is posted about them on someone else’s website
and hires the individual anyway, then the employer could be (i.e., libelous information) (Davison et al., 2012). It is important
sued for negligent hiring, if the employee later harms a third that jobseekers realize the seriousness of this. A study by
party (Davidson et al. 2012, p.8). Kluemper showed that employers reject jobseekers based on
The last limitation for employers that I discuss here is what they find about them on social media. Kluemper (2013)
considered by some to be the most major and difficult. This found that 35% of employers said that they would reject a
limitation concerns privacy. Social media sites have made it jobseeker because of information they found on social media.
very easy for private information to become accessible to the The top reasons that were given for rejecting applicants
general public and not just to the public that someone would included the presence of provocative or inappropriate photos or
choose (Marwick & boyd 2010) such as family and friends. It information, content about drinking or using drugs, bad-
also made it possible for recruiters to read them (Suder, 2014). mouthing a previous employer, poor communications skills,
But concerning the privacy on social media you should try to discriminatory comments, lying about qualifications, and
answere the question; Does an applicant actually have a right to sharing confidential information from a previous employer.
privacy on social media platforms? When discussing the
privacy expectations of a jobseeker some people, like Suder,
say that a person loses their right to privacy to information if 3.2 Differences between Social Media
they post it on social media sites themselves. Seeing how public Platforms
information is not considered private it makes it hard to argue There are many different platforms for social media today. The
otherwise. You could say that because the information on social three most popular social media websites in October 2015 are:
media sites is publicly searchable a jobseekers should not have Facebook at number one with 900,000,000 unique monthly
the right to privacy on them. Saying that you should also take visitors, Twitter at number two with 310,000,000 visitors and
into account that some of the information on social media sites LinkedIn at number three with 255,000,000 visitors (eBizMBA,
is posted by others. Seeing how they did not place this 2015). In short, the difference between these three social media
information themselves you could say that this information sites can be described as follows:
should be private. In any case there is still a lot to be said about
privacy on social media and I would say it has not all been LinkedIn: Tells others who you are.
figured out yet. Facebook: Tells others who you know.
Twitter: Tells others what you are doing.
3.1.3 Advantages for jobseekers This of course is a very compact explination. There are a lot
One advantages of using social media sites for recruitement for more differences between Facebook and LinkedIn about a wide
jobseekers is that social media is a low costs mean to search for range of issues. Facebook (when compared to LinkedIn) has
jobs. Jobseekers can join the social media platforms of more users, generally has more information on it, is typically
companies and then easily have access to the vacancies focused on ‘’friends’’ (rather than professional ‘’connections’),
companies post. Jobseekers can even do this anonymously, it has a greater ability to restrict access, etc. LinkedIn, on the
which could be an advantage for jobseekers who currently have other hand, is more like an expanded resume and explicitly used
a job. Plus it helps the recruitment process of the jobseeker by for connecting with eachother professionally, including
making it more responsive (Reiners & Alexander, 2013). connecting because of recruitment and selection (Kluemper,
2014). LinkedIn appears to have gained wide acceptance as an
Another advantage is that jobseekers can easily access
effective recruiting tool, Facebook and Twitter on the other
infuential referees and important information about the
hand are viewed with skepticism by the device companies.
company. This may help them to prepare even better for the job
Provost (2009) held a survey in which the test group did not
screening process, because they are likely to have, or feel like
believe that Facebook and Twitter reached the experienced
they have, an edge over competitors with similar credentials
professionals they are seeking,. They feld that both platforms
(Plummer et al., 2009). Social media, and social networking
were purely socially focused or for a younger demographic
sites in particular, can increase the possibilities of contact and
group with predominantly entry-level skills. So Facebook might

.
not be considered as a helpful selection platform for employers. finding most people expected. So it can be stated that people
From the viewpoint of the jobseeker, Facebook is far from an from different age groups have different preferences when it
ideal search tool. In order to uncover potential opportunities on comes to several platforms of social media (Nikolaou, 2014).
a company’s social media platform page, the jobseeker first has Age might be a possible moderator of the effect of using social
to become a fan of each company’s social media page and then networking sites on job pursuit intentions. Because younger
visit each page to try to track and identify new job postings and individuals are more likely to have a social network account
then apply online through the corporate Web site (Provost, than older individuals, older applicants might have different
2009). reactions to employers using social network account as a
LinkedIn can be used in a whole variety of ways – to identify selection tool (Withiam, 2011).
business contracts, candidates or clients, to canvass opinion on More people from younger age groups are present on social
a particular topic, to advertise jobs, to hook back up with a media. This makes the applicant pool for younger people larger
former colleagues or to contact or to advertise your services, than for older people, so it is very probable that more younger
credentials or availability for a new job (Thew, 2008). LinkedIn people will be hired from social media. If more young people
was initially a free service and for the functionality mentioned really are hired through social media it will probably be because
above it stays that way, but there are now tiers of membership there are a lot more young jobseekers on social media sites. I
that allow the user to buy a number of direct contracts (In- have not found any research to suggest that people from older
Mails) and send a message directly to another member that is age groups are less capable on social media.
not already on their level one network. This only works if that What about the differences between men and women in social
member has indicated that they are happy to receive direct media recruitment? I have not found there to be much written
contracts. It is quicker, cleaner and more discreet, and at about about this topic. What I did find was a study by Nikolaou
$1 a go it is cost-effective. It is cheaper than advertising and (2014). He said that males tend to be more active than females
more targeted (Thew, 2008). This gives LinkedIn an advantages on LinkedIn, in terms of engagement, usage, and perceptions of
over the other social media platforms, that do not have this its effectiveness. Females, on the other hand tend to spend more
option. time using social networking sites, especially job boards, in the
But which social media platform currently the best to use for job search purpose. So maybe male and females are equally
social media recruitment? Nikolaou (2014) designed a study to effective in recruitment on social media, they just work at it a
try to give an answer to this question. He provided a study to try different way.
to discover which social media platform would be the best to
use for social media recruitment. He quantitatively compared
the usage for recruitment and screening, and the effectiveness 3.4 Differences between Countries
of LinkedIn and Facebook. The results showed that LinkedIn is Is there a difference in recruitment through social media in
used more extensively for recruitment and screening purposes different countries? Is it used more in the United Stated than in
than Facebook (t=7,79 [df=106], p < .00). His study also Europe, or is it just the other way around? And if that would be
showed that LinkedIn is considered to be more effective for the case, then why it is so? Are there difficulties about social
recruitment and screening purposes in comparision to Facebook media recruitment that some countries face but others don’t?
(t=8.77 [df=67], p < .00). So based on Nikolaou’s study you
could say that LinkedIn is a more effective platform than Reading the articles I have found that there has not been looked
Facebook for recruitment purposes. into the differences in recuirtment through social media
between different countries that much. It is mentioned that
social media originates from the United States for the most part.
Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter all originate from the United
3.3 Differences between Age and Gender of States. So it would not come to that much of a surprise to see
Jobseekers that the United States have more people active on social media
Is there a difference in groups that use social media when it than Europe has. There are 118 million U.S. users on LinkedIn
comes to age? Are young people more effective when it comes compared to 93 million European users (LinkedIn, 2015).
to social media, because they grew up with it? Or have older Seeing how social media has existed longer in the U.S. and
people adapted to social media and are they using it just as well more people are active on it, some say that the U.S. has
as younger people are? And are there differences in recruitment developed a better strategy for recruiting through social media.
through social media between men and women? Do men use But so far I have not found research to support nor object this.
social media more or better or are woman using social media in One thing that I did find in multiple articles is the difference
the same ways and just as effectively? when it comes to privacy on social media sites. Most countries
As far as age is concerned Aspridis et al. (2013) state that in all in Europe explicitly recognize basic privacy rights in their
age groups a large proportion of users keep a profile on constitutions and have adopted general data protection laws, the
Facebook. But it seems to them that as age increases the smaller US Constitution does not provide protection for employee
the % rate on the number of users in each age group becomes. privacy in private sector workplaces (Suder, 2014). In Europe
Also, with age increasing, a larger percentage of people who the right to privacy and data protection are two distinct human
either do not use, or use some of the less popular social right that are recognized in numerous international (e.g. the
networks appear. So, the older people become, the less Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union) and
percentage of them is found to be on social media platforms as national instruments. In Europe the right to privacy is bound
Facebook (Aspridis et al., 2013). Aspridis et al. also say that with human dignity. Human dignity is not generated by the
diferent age groups use social media platforms in a different individual, but is instead created by one’s community and
way. They found that older jobseekers are found to be more on bestowed upon the individual. Therefore it cannot be exchanged
LinkedIn, than on other social media sites. In comparion to for other rights, but this is possible in the U.S. (Lasprogata,
younger jobseekers who mostly use Facebook and job boards. King & Pillay 2004). In the U.S. it would be possible to give up
Younger participants tend to spend more time online on social the right for privacy, seeing that it is considered a right that can
media sites and visit them more regularly, I think this is a be traded. In Europe a person can not do this. Some European

.
countries, such as the UK, Germany and Finland, however, increase their investment in staff selection through social media.
even restrict employer’s right to monitor applicants’ social Finally, over two million firms have profiles in LinkedIn
media profile. For instance, in the UK they have the Data (Jobvite, 2011). One of the difference between social media
Protection Act. This is a primary legislation that regulates the recruitment and old fashion recruitment has to do with the life
holding of an individual’s personal data by companies. It also cycle of the vacancy. On the internet, the life cycle of a vacancy
regulates the processing of personal information of individual. is longer and allows the display of the duration of the
This act however does not contain specific regulations on data advertisement (Valvis, 2005). Markkanen (2002) reported that
collection during recruitment (Suder, 2014). for active jobseekers, the ad/vacancy is only ‘’hot’’ for ten
There are also other countries in Europe that prioritize days. If the ad is displayed for too long it can actually make it
employees’ rights to privacy protection when gathering unattractive to candidates. It can make the jobseeker wonder if
information online. In Finland the Act on the Protection of there is something wrong with the company, since it is so
Privacy in Working Life 759/2004 (Finlex 2004) expands the difficult to find employees (Aspridis et al., 2013).
privacy rights of employees. So I think, judging from the articles, that the largest difference
In conclusion it can be said that not that much research has been between recruitment through social media and other recruitment
done to find if there are differences in recruitment through options is time. Time in how long social media has been around
social media in different countries. The research that has been and time in that most things on the internet move faster.
done so far leads to believe there is not that much of a Because regular recruitment options have been around longer
difference between recruitment through social media in they have had the time to come up with rules and regulations.
different Western countries. The difference that has been Social media recruitment is relatively new, therefore they are
written about mostly in recruitment through social media so far only now beginning to discover the possible problems and
is privacy, or rather the perceived right to privacy. This right is possible solutions to those problems.
perceived as high in European countries and as something that
is seen as tradable in the United States.
3.6 Value, Effectiveness, Efficiency and
Success
3.5 Differences between Social Media and Probably the most common current approach to social
networking screening is to view profiles for potential
Other Recruitment Options disqualifying information. This approach resembles a type of
Several people such as Falcone (2009), Coutu (2007) and background check. It seems that applicants with social network
Smith-Buhler (2009) claim that nowadays employers and information that indicate to drug use, discriminatory comments,
management face ethical dilemmas with regard to whether to do misrepresented qualifications, or shared confidential
an online background search on social media sites or not. information about a current employer (Forty-five Percent of
Screening future workers (Slivensky et al., 2012) has given Employers, 2009) might provide a strong basis to reject an
good results in finding highly skilled employees quicker applicant, particularly when considering the potential for
(Dafoulas et al., 2002). But management still needs guidance on deviant workplace behaviors. Hence, a primary concern of
how to deal with their findings in a socially responsible manner some companies may be related to public relations. They want
(Clark et al., 2010) ((sanchex Abril et al., 2012) (Schoening et potential employees to have a clean online presence that will
al., 2010). Using social media in employment is undergoing a not likely harm the company if the information is viewed by the
transition in terms of behavioral norms, regulations, and law. company’s stakeholders (Kluemper, 2014). The use of social
Dealing with online privacy problems in a way that is in media to attract and select candidates is being used to make a
compliance with a company’s social responsibility is still a global pool of prospective employees on the one hand and
matter that is under dispute (Hirsch, 2010) (Pollach, 2011). prospective employers on the other, it eliminates distances and
These sort of problems are not necessarily new in recruitment. costs, as the candidate selection can be made from anywhere in
The difference is that recruitment without social media has been the world (Aspridis et al., 2013). It builds networks and
around for much longer, therefore they have had time to deal connections between users and enhances publicity and public
with these problems. But they are still new in social media image of both the prospective employer and the prospective
recruitment. employee. As in most social media relevant information and
The last few years researchers have dealt with the impact of interconnections are visible if the user prefers them to be (Parry
social media in human resource management and particularly & Wilson, 2009). Social networking sites are a tool for faster
the effectiveness of the functions of attracting, selecting and and immediate job searching from the candidates, through key-
recruiting candidates. A research done by Jobvite (2011) about words or through common interfaces they can locate the desired
companies that have their headquarters in the U.S., came to the job, fill out the page of a company that attracts staff. They
following interesting results: Over 80% of companies said they enhance the transparency of companies’ claims, since through
use social media and 9% will be launched soon. The percentage the links on their pages the candidates can talk and exchange
of use of social media for selecting staff increased last year by views with other candidates. Finally, they encourage the
12%. Nearly 2/3 of those who make the choice of candidates exchange of views and ideas with customers, suppliers and staff
have managed to hire a talent using social networks, this is 5% of a company (Boyd & Ellison, 2003).
higher than last year. Among the social networking sites used Currently, what for some is seen as one of the most problematic
for personnel selection LinkedIn is in first place, and Facebook issues surrounding the use of social networking sites in
follows with some difference. Furthermore, 64% of the selection or screening, is the lack of validity evidence
companies under investigation, say that it uses two or more supporting the appropriateness of using this method to gather
social media platforms for personnel selection. 100% of the information. Despite the importance of following selection
Fortune 500 companies (ranking of American companies in the system validation procedures in professional guidelines no
magazine) have executives with profiles on LinkedIn and 75% research has yet investigated the content validity of the
of Fortune 100 companies pay for ads and / or for improved information gathered by employers. Without well-documented
search services. 55% of companies who are located in the U.S. evidence for validity, the conclusions that are drawn by

.
managers on the basis of profile searches may be tenuous at 2013). They feel that social media do not replace other e-
best. Furthermore they might result in undocumented recruitment tools, but consider them as more dynamic and
discriminatory actions. Consistent with the weaknesses relational tools. Most experts do not consider social media as
surrounding the use of unstructured interviews (Guion, 1998), ‘’just complementary’’ or simple gadgets but as more and more
the use of informal decision making methods that are supported important tools both for recruitment and employer brand
with validity evidence in the hiring process may increase the strategy. Nevertheless the nature of social media remains for the
likelihood of legal repercussions (Brown & Vaughn, 2011). moment subjected to controversy (Girard et al., 2014).
Brown & Vaughn are not alone in this thought. Another study Finally, it should be noted that the impact of social networking
addressed an important issue with using social media as a hiring sites may not yet be similar in different parts of the world, due
tool, that the reliability as well as the validity of using social to Internet availability and literacy limitations (Hargittai, 2007),
networking sites to screen and select applicants is unknown. such as computer literacy, this may also allow demographical
Until the reliability and validity of the information from social biases to arise (Caers & Castelyns, 2011).
networking sites is examined, hiring organizations should be
cautious when relying on social networking sites to make
selection decisions (Madera, 2012).
3.7 Conditions for success
Validity is not the only thing that is hard to determine. It is also Many things have been said about social media. What the
difficult to determine whether social networking sites screening benefits and the limitations are for more than one party. But
is increasing or decreasing. One possibility is that both are true. what are the conditions for success? Different opinions arise
It seems plausible, from a closer look at the roles of the when asking this question.
participants in surveys conducted by Kluemper, that HR
First I think that recruiters as well as jobseekers should realize
representatives may be less likely to use social networking sites
that social media sites are the Internet’s expression current
for screening purposes (perhaps due to the legal and other risks
world and are nothing if not changing. The usage of these sites
associated with such use), while non-HR hiring managers may
are constantly developing. Facebook’s rapid replacement of
be more likely to use social networking sites to screen (perhaps
MySpace shows us how quickly these changes can occur
due to the ease of accessing a potential treasure trove of
(Reiners & Alexander, 2013). So a first condition for success is
information about the job applicant) (Kluemper, 2014). Some
that recruiters and jobseekers should try to keep paying
research says that the importance of online recruitment is
attention to what is happening in the field of social media. Are
established, others disagree. A research was conducted to
they still using the right and most successful platform?
examine the relationship between the use of social media as a
recruitment source and student attitudes (Rozelle & Landis, Secondly a company should determine if what specifically they
2002). They hypothesized that Internet recruitment would be are going to use social media sites for. Are they going to use it
seen as presenting less accurate information to applicants as for recruitment only then it would be wise to explain the
compared to informal forms of recruitment. In addition, greater recruitment purpose to potential applicants, as well as providing
applicant use of Internet-based recruiting information was an official statement that their profiles will not be used for
expected to be associated with lower satisfaction with the selection or screening. Research suggests that applicants have
company. The data did not support the hypotheses, hence the positive reactions when companies provide information and
role of online recruitment was significantly established through explanations about how information is gathered and that the
this study (Sinha & Thaly, 2013). Others say that social media jobseeker’s information will be used in a consistent and
recruitment mostly have negative outcomes. A study by Madera systematic manner (Hausknecht et al., 2004). When recruiters
(2012) suggests that using social networking websites for have explained to the jobseekers that they will be looking into
selection purpose does have a negative impact on the fairness their social media account it may be wise to get the jobseekers
perception of the selection process. As such, companies should to give consent for this. Have applicants sign a written consent
be cautious about inviting or encouraging potential applicants to form prior to conducting social network screening (Slovensky
join their social networking website. Employers should be & Ross, 2012). The Fair Credit Reporting Act requires
aware that applicants might have negative reactions if they use applicant consent prior to conducting certain background
social networking websites as part of their selection process. checks. Thus, if employers use social media sites for
Applicants perceive privacy violations as unfair and often this background check, candidates may be legally entitled to have
leads to a negative perceptions of the company (Truxillo et al., this information disclosed to them (Smith& Kidder, 2010). This
2004). Or like Melanthious et al. (2015) who thinks that social could be convenient for an organization, because it will prevent
media sites could help companies to locate and attract them from being sued.
jobseekers and run background checks. But who thinks that Something that companies could also do to increase success is
companies avoid the use of social media and fail to take to verify the accuracy of the information that is found about
advantage of the opportunities offered. Or Kilpatrick (2013) jobseekers. A company could do this by incorporating social
who thinks social media in recruitment is not helpful at all. This screening policies, to verify that an applicant’s social media
because he feels that none of social media’s tools and systems profile is truly their own (Davison et al., 2012). This can help a
help recruiters develop their judgement or improve their recruiter to limit the number of incorrect information they might
assessment. Nor do they offer ways to manage greater numbers receive about an applicant. After a company has weighted the
of relationships with clients and candidates. pros and cons of social media screening practices and had made
Others look more at the technology behind social media a decision to use invasive procedures, these procedures could be
recruitment. A paper was presented at an international made into a part of a formal policy, rather than allowing or
conference by Florea & Badea (2013), which emphasized the encouraging in practices such as ‘’friending’’ or ‘’over the
manner in which the organizations use technology increases or shoulder’’ screening. These practices are not illegall, but their
decreases its positive net effect. The findings suggest that are likely less legally defensible than accessing open public
through the Internet, HR can develop an effective recruitment information. There are also more likely to result in negative
program, which helps manage the highly competitive and time- reaction from the applicant than an open policy.
consuming process of finding skilled personnel (Sinha & Thaly,

.
 Another action that could also be helpful for a company is to Advantages and Limitations of Using Social Media in
conduct social network screening toward the end of the hiring Recruitment
process, rather than in the beginning. The Repplier.com (2009) For employers
and SHRM (2011) both performed studies that found that social Can help them filter out Employers may look at
media screening occurs at different stages in the hiring process. relevant information for the information on social media
Some social networking screening protocols may do so very recruitment process the wrong way, this could
well early in the selection process, prior to an interview to allow eventually lead to lawsuits
the applicant to address certain issues that have been raised, or Helps them easily access Companies using social
after a conditional job offer has been given. While there are national and international media in recruitment may
pros and cons to various approaches, a negative view by applicants be perceived as less fair
applicants is reduced when social network screening is Broader effective search range Job pursuit intentions for
performed later in the selection process (Sackett & Roth, 1996). applicants companies are lower
It might also be smart for a company to use multiple screeners. Could possibly help to Information on social media
Multiple screeners will likely improve the reliability and the automate the recruitment may very considerably
validity of social media screening (Kluemper & Rosen, 2009; process among jobseekers
Kluemper et al., 2012; Roth et al., 2012). In addition to using Lighter workload employers Information about
multiple screeners it could also be helpful to use the same applicants might be overly
screeners. Consistency is likely to improve when companies use positive
the same evaluators for all applicants (Kluemper et al., 2012). It It makes the recruitment Social media recruitment
will also give the applicants a greater sense of fairness. process more responsive could lead to negligent
A company could also think about if they choose to outsource hiring
or insource the recruitment process. If a company chooses to Employers could save time The employer might violate
outsource, job-relevant information could be conducted by an applicant’s privacy
independent evaluators within HR and then be passed to hiring Lower costs
managers within the company. Because of this these hiring For jobseekers
managers would have no knowledge of job-irrelevant It can help them filter out Information they post might
information (Davison et al., 2012) that might have been found relevant information for the be misunderstood
on social media sites, such as disability status and sexual recruitment process
orientation. This could help some firms to minimize legal They can easily access a Others might post negative
issues. The liability of a company could increase because they broader range of vacancies information about them
decided to hire a third party to view social networking profiles, It makes the recruitment Information can be false;
because they now only rely only job-relevant information for process more responsive e.g. identify theft
the employer (Slovensky & Ross, 2012). Can easily access information Employers reject applicants
Establishing criterion-related validity could help a company as about the company and based on what they find on
well. If a company establishes these criteria evaluators could be vacancy social media
trained regarding issues as potential discrimination, inaccuracy, Lower costs
inconsistency, and violations of applicant privacy, social
network evaluators and prevent them from becoming a problem Differences between Social Media Platforms
for the company(Slovensky & Ross, 2012). Facebook
Has more information on it Considered as less usable
As you can see a lot can be done to try to be successful in than LinkedIn for recruitment than
recruitment through social media. E-recruitment may be seen as LinkedIn
the means to ‘’transform the future of the recruitment industry
Has a greater ability to restrict Viewed with skepticism by
[by] opening new doors for employers and jobseekers to
access than LinkedIn the device companies
connect in ways not possible before’’ (Beyond.com, 2008). Still
It is a free service From the viewpoint of the
it is important that all the parties in all countries know and
jobseeker, Facebook is far
understand social rules that influence both the content, style and
from an ideal search tool.
use of their posted profiles (Reiners & Alexander, 2013).
Because he jobseeker first
However, when new technologies become the norm of everyday
has to become a fan of each
life and try to make this a successful development for all parties
company’s social media
involved, the law may have to respond accordingly (Suder,
page and then visit each
2014).
page to try to track and
identify new job postings
and then apply online
4. OVERVIEW OF THE ADVANTAGES through the corporate Web
AND LIMITATIONS OF USING SOCIAL site
MEDIA IN RECRUITMENT Anyone can use it
To give an overview of the advantages and limitations of using LinkedIn
social media I have made a comparative table as you can see LinkedIn appears to have
below in Table 1. Advantages and Limitations of Using Social gained wide acceptance as an
Media in Recruitment. effective recruiting tool
It can be used in a whole
variety of ways
Table 1. Advantages and Limitations of Using Social Media It is a free service
in Recruitment Anyone can use it
Advantage Limitations

.
Results show LinkedIn is used The use of social networking sites does not appear to be a
more extensively for temporaty business, so it could be usefull for researchers to
recruitment and screening examining how employers and applicants might harness social
purposes than Facebook networking sites to their advantage. Research that is embedded
Study showed that LinkedIn is within an organizational context could also help in specifically
considered to be more effective testing the validity of the social networking sites screening
for recruitment and screening method (Brown & Vaughn, 2011).
purposes than Facebook These future researches are all more about social media in
general. But there could also be done more research about
Differences between Age and Gender of Jobseekers specific social media site. LinkedIn for example is a social
Younger people network site that focuses on job-posting or resume-related
Larger representation (viewed Larger representation (more information, such as the past- and current employers and
more) competitors) education. Individuals can also post job and resume-related
Older people information on Facebook, this social network site also allows
Smaller representation (viewed Smaller representation (less for the posting of personal and non-job related information.
less) competitors) Thus, future research might examine if fairness perceptions
vary by the type of social network site an employer uses to
Differences between Countries screen applicants. In particular, future research might examine
Europe if attitudes toward employers that use social networking sites
More privacy regulations More privacy regulations varies as a function of the type of social networking site that is
(advantage for jobseekers) (limitation for employers) used, for example Facebook in comparision to LinkedIn.
U.S. Another subject for future research is Google+, this is now the
Less privacy regulations Less privacy regulations fastest growing social networking site that integrates social life
(advantage employers) (limitations jobseekers) with work life (Ovadia, 2011). Future studies exploring the role
of social networking sites could conduct more elaborative and
Differences between Social Media and Other Recruitment ideally longitudinal studies on the predicted validity on social
Options networking sites in job search, recruitment, and selection. In
Social media this way, the real usefulness of social networking sites for
jobseekers and recruiters will be showed more accurately.
Faster Doe not yet have
established rules and It would also be interesring to read more studies about the
policies connection between social media sites with other, already
Is becoming more popular Short vacancy life cycle established, job search methods such as the traditional
Old ways networking (Nikolaou, 2014).
Already has established rules Is not becoming more The final topic in social media recruitment that I think could be
and policies popular examined much more closely is the difference in social media
Longer vacancy life cycle recruitment in different countries. Especially between Europe
and the U.S. The U.S. has much more flexible legislation when
Value, Effectiveness, Efficiency and Success it comes to hiring and firing employees than Europe. Does this
It builds networks and The lack of validity have an influence on the role of social media recruitment? Does
connections between users and evidence supporting the it make social media recruitment more effective in the U.S. than
enhances publicity and public appropriateness of using in Europe? So far I have not found any research that examines
image of both the prospective this method to gather if there is a difference in success in social media recruitment in
employer and the prospective information. different countries. I would find it very interesting to know if
employee. there is and what makes one country more successful than
They enhance the transparency Difficult to determine another. I also believe it would be usefull, because countries
of companies’ claims, since whether social networking could learn from each other and make recruitment through
through the links on their pages sites screening is increasing social media work better.
the candidates can talk and or decreasing
exchange views with other
candidates.
6. RECOMMENDATIONS
6.1 Recommendations for employers
Internet screening in organizations is often proceeding without
5. FUTURE RESEARCH any policies, and with limited guidance or best practices.
More has been written about recruitment through social media Although it could simply be recommended that Internet
that I had at first suspected. A lot of topics have already been screening should not be used at all (Davison et al., 2012), I also
discussed, but there are still several topics that future research believe that this would be cutting a lot of parties short. I has to
could involve. recognized that the use of the Internet in screening and selection
is already occurring and will most likely will continue to grow.
First of all I agree with Henderson et al. (2013). They suggest Davison et al. (2012) provide the following preliminary
that ethics in social media recruitment should be investigated guidance and recommendations for organizations that use
further, because it could be a valuable way forward in Internet screening. First of all companies should try to develop
identifying the relevant problems and ethical questions for each policies regarding appropriate and inappropriate use of Internet
research project and in finding a path that upholds ethical screening. If this is done properly everybody in the company
principles of justice, beneficence, and respect. will know what the standards are. This could help to limit the

.
problems concerning social media recruitment. Companies 6.3 Recommendations for Multiple Parties
could also conduct a risk-benefit analysis. This will help them The rising use of social media screening and selection has
to determine if the legal risks of using social media screening raised serious issues about personal privacy and identity
media outweigh the potential benefits. It might be wise to management. Companies ask of their recruiters that they search
standardize assessments of social media screening and use out information, ask around for background information, or if
multiple raters. This will help to provide more validity. they are not allowed to do that find other sources. This might be
Verifying the accuracy of information that is obtained from violating peoples’ rights to privacy. The government could
social media screening is also a smart thing to do. Finally attempted to to solve this problem by giving more attention to it
Davison et al. recommend you disclose the potential use of in high schools and universities. They could do this by giving
Internet screening media for selection decisions to applicants career guidance. This way you could try to ensure that young
(Davison et al., 2012). people know how the recruitment processes on social media
Davison et al. are not the only people who recommend works, so it would not come as a surprise to them at the time
companies to develop policies regarding appropriate and they begin to search for jobs. It might also be helpful to make
inappropriate use of Internet screening. Provost (2009) says that the recruitment process more visible and transparent. Private
is might even be wise to incorporate social media into your companies usually cannot be asked to do that directly (for
corporate recruitment strategy. Thereby making it even more example, by proposing a law), but it can probably be done
important. But what if you are a small company and do not have effectively in the government sector. However, to really discuss
the resources for this? If you do not have the resources to define these issues more is a must that more publicly occurs about it
a comprehensive strategy, you could begin by picking a tool (Lorenz & Kikkas, 2014).
and piloting its use (Provost, 2009). You could also encourage
hiring managers to build their LinkedIn networks and to use
them as a source of employee referrals. Develop a corporate I think the use of social media in recruitment could be made
Facebook page – if not recruitment, then at least for corporate extremely effective. If companies decide to implement good
branding purposes. Remain open to learning about new and fair policies and regulations concerning social media
applications that will increase social media’s viability as recruitment and if they find a way to generalize the search. For
recruitment tools. And finally keep in mind that there are legal now I do not believe that it is as effective as it could be, but I
issues associated with misusing social media tools for think it will not be long before that happens. Even so social
recruitment (Provost, 2009). media has become an essential part of today’s world. It is for a
reason that one in every four people is already on Facebook
(Statista, 2015).
6.2 Recommendations for jobseekers
When it comes to recommendations for jobseekers I agree with
Kilpatrick that you should definitely be on LinkedIn (and
possibly Facebook and Twitter too), but ensure that you do not 7. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
have anything on these sites that you would not feel My thanks goes out to my supervisors, who have helped me
comfortable being seen by a potential employer. This includes with this review as much as possible.
your main photo, status updates and personal information. Try
to show the best qualities you have and demonstrate your
expertise. For example, choose a subject that you are passionate
about, and use that interest to become a knowledgeable expert
in that field by staying on top of current news and opinion.
Make a personal statement in one sentence. Use it to identify
what you do and to separate yourself from your competitors.
Use this as a message to promote yourself, just as a brand
develops a slogan to promote itself. Think of your strengths,
knowledge and what you can bring to a company. Make sure
this message is conveyed clearly on social media sites, and your
personal website.
Ensure your LinkedIn profile is complete. Join groups that are
relevant to your experience and interests, include your personal
statement and career goals in your ‘summary’, and ask former
employers and clients to make recommendations on your
behalf.
Try to make sure your profile and pictures on social media sites,
and other websites you contribute to, show total consistency.
This will help you to create a strong and memorable web
presence (Kilpatrick, 2013). An advice for future workers
would include: look into your own behavior, and do not make
the mistake of letting everybody take picture or videos about
you. Try to ‘’search and destroy’’ information online when you
think it could be damaging your online profile. Of course the
best thing to do is to prevent all of this from happening in the
first place (Lorenz & Kikkas, 2014)..

.
8. APPENDIX and Applications, Lecture Notes in Computer Science
Aspridis, G. K. (2013). Social Networking Websites and Their (pp. 245-254).
Effecet in Contemporary Human Resource
Lorenz, B. K. (2014). If I Do Not Like Your Online Profile I
Management - A Research Approach. Mediterranean
Will Not Hire You! Springer , pp. 429-439.
Journal of Social Sciences, p. 2946.
Madera, J. (2012). Using social networking websites as a
Bondarouk, T. O.-L. (2014). Social Media and Human
selection tool: The role of selection process fairness
Resource Management: It Takes Two to Tango.
and job pursuit intentions. International Journal of
Emerald Insight.
Hospitality Management, 1276-1282.
Brown, V. V. (2011). The Writing on thw (Facebook) Wall:
Malherbe, E. D. (2014). Field Selection for Job Categorization
The Use of Social Networking Sites in Hirings
and Recommendation to Social Network Users.
Decisions. Springer, 219-225.
International Conference on Advances in Social
Caers, R. C. (2011). LinkedIn and Facebook in Belgium: The Networks Analysis and Mining, (pp. 588-595). Paris.
Influences and Biases of Social Network Sites in
Melanthiou, Y. P. (2015). The Use of Social Network Sites as
Recruitment and Selection Procedures. In Social
an E-Recruitment Tool. Journal of Transnational
Science Computer Review (pp. 437-448).
Management, 31-49.
Casler, K. B. (2013). Seperate but equal? A comparison of
Nikolaou, I. (2014). Social Networking Web Sites in Job Search
participants and data gathered via Amazon's MTurk,
and Employee Recruitment. International Journal of
social media, and face-to-face behavioral testing.
Selection and Assessment, 179-189.
Elsevier, 2156-2160.
Pate, R. (2012). Invisible discrimination: Employers, social
Chiang, J. S. (2015). Self-presentation and hiring
media sites and passwords in the U.S. International
recommendations in online communities: Lessons
Journal of Discrimination and the Law, 133-146.
from LinkedIn. Elsevier, pp. 516-524.
Plummer, M., Hiltz, S. (2009). Recruitment in Social
Clark, L. R. (2010). Employer's Use of Social Networking
Networking Sites: A Theoretical Model of Jobseekers'
Sites: A Socially Irresponsible Practice. Journal of Intentions. AMCIS 2009 Proceedings. Paper 176.
Business Ethics, 507-525.
Provost, K. (2009). Recruiters Face a Networking Challenge.
Davison, H. M. (2011). To Screen or Not to Screen? Using the Biomedical Search Consultants.
Internet for Selection Decisions. Springer, 1-21.
Reiners, T. A. (2013). Social network Perception Alignment of
Diaby, M. V. (2014). Taxonomy-based Job Recommender E-recruiters and Potential Applicants. 46th Hawaii
Systems On Facebook and LinkedIn Profile. International Conference on System Sciences, (pp.
Association Nationale de la Recherce et de la 4576-4585).
Technologie. Paris.
Sinha, V. T. (2013). A review on changing trend of recruitment
El Ouirdi, M. S. (2015). Predictors of job seekers' self- practice to enhance the quality of hiring in global
disclosure on social media. Elsevier, 1-12. organizations. In Management (pp. 141-156).

Girard, A. F. (2014). Integration of Social Media in Stoughton, J. T. (2013). Examining Applicant Reactions to the
Recruitment: A Delphi Study. Emerald Insight, 97- Use of Social Networking Websites in Pre-
120. Employment Screening. Springer, 73-88.

Henderson, M. J. (2013). Silences of ethical practice: dilemmas Suder, S. (2014). Pre-employment background checks on social
for researchers using social media. In Educational networking sites - may your boss be watching?
Research and Evaluation (pp. 546-560). Masaryk University Journal of Law and Technology,
pp. 123-136.
Kilpatrick, R. (2013). Social media - a panacea or recruitment?
The Structural Engineer, 38-39. Thew, D. (2008). LinkedIn - a user's perspective. Business
Information Review, 87-90.
Kluemper, D. (2013). Social Network Screening: Pitfalls,
Possibilities, and Parallels in Employment Selection. Wolf, M. S. (2014). Social Media utilization in Human
Emerald Insight, 1-21. Resource Management. Research Gate.

Korman, R. (2011, October 27). Social Media Reshape Job

Hunting, Recruitment at Smith Group, CH2M Hill.
ENR.

Loiacono, E. D. (2011). Why Virtual Job Recruiting Is Not

Well Accepted by Generation Y? - A Case Study on
Second Life. In Human-Computer Interaction, Users

.
9. REFERENCES Guion, R. M. (1998). Assessment by inventories and interviews.
American Educational Research Association, American In Guion (Ed.), Assessment, measurement, and prediction for
Psychological Association, National Council on Measurement personnel decisions. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum
in Education. (1999). Standards of educational and Associates.
psychological testing. Washington, DC: AERA. Hargittai, E. (2007). Whose space? Differences among users
Beyond.com. (2008). Social Networking and its Impact on and non-users of social networking sites. Journal of Computer-
Online Recruitment. Available: Mediated Communication, 13, 1.
http://www.beyond.com/Media/Online-Recruitment-In-Social- Hausknecht, J.P., Day, D.V., Thomas, S.C., 2004. Applicant
Networking.asp reactions to selection procedures: an updated model and meta-
Boyd, D., Ellison, N., B., (2007), ‘’Social Network Sites: analysis. Personnel Psychology 57, 639-683)
Definition, History, and Scholarship.’’ Journal of Computer- Henson, B., Reyns, B.W., Fisher, B.S. (2011). Security in the
Mediated Communication, 13.1, 21st Century Examining the Link Between Online Social
http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol13/issue1/boyd.ellison.html Network Activity, Privacy, and Interpersonal Victimization.
Brown, V. & Vaughn, E. 2011, ‘The Writing on the Criminal Justice Review 36 (3), pp. 253-268
(Facebook) Wall: The Use of Social Networking Sites in Hiring Hirsch, D. (2010). The Law and Policy of Online Privacy:
Decisions’, Journal of Business and Psychology, vol. 26, no. 2, Regulation, Self-Regulation or Co-Regulation? ExpressO,
pp. 219-225. http://works.bepress.com/dennis_hirsch/1
Clark, L.A., Roberts, S.J. (2010): Employer’s use of social Ivaks, E.-L. 2013, The Use of Facebook as Evaluation Method
networking sites: A socially irresponsible practice. Journal of for Job Candidates in Service Sector Organizations, Bachelor
Business Ethics, 95 (4), 507-525. Thesis, University of Tartu, Tartu.
Compton, R., Morrissey, W., Nankervis, A., (2009). “Effective Jacobs, D. (2009). Surviving the social explosion. Landscape
Recruitment and Selection Practices,’’ ed: CCH Australia. Management, 48, pp. 10-13.
Coutu, D. (2007). We googled you. Harvard Business Review, Jobvite, (2011), Social Recruiting Survey,
85 (6), 37. http://recruiting.jobvite.com/ [Accessed on 27/11/2011].
Dafoulas, G.A., Pateli, A.G., Turega, M. (2002): Business-to- Kluemper, D. H., Rosen, P. A. (2009). Future employment
employee co-operation support through online job interviews. selection methods: evaluating social networking web sites.
Proceedings of the 13th International Workshop on Database Journal of Managerial Psychology, 246, pp. 567-580.
and Expert Systems Applications, pp. 286-292.
Kluemper, D. H., Rosen, P., & Mossholder, K. (2012). Social
Davison, H. K., Maraist, C.C., Hamilton, R. H. & Bing, M. N. networking websites, personality ratings, and the organizational
(2012). ’To Screen or Not to Screen? Using the Internet for context: More than meets the eye? Journal of Applied Social
Selection Decisions’, Employee Responsibilities and Right Psychology, 42, 1143-1172.
Journal, vol. 24, no. 1, pp. 1-21.
LinkedIn (2015). About LinkedIn, Company information.
DeKay, S. (2009). Are business-oriented social networking web Retrieved from https://press.linkedin.com/about-linkedin
sites useful resources for locating passive jobseekers? Results [Accessed on 26/10/2015].
of a recent study. Business Communication Quarterly, 72(1),
Madejski, M., Johnson, M.L., Belllovin, S.M. (2011). The
101-105.
failure of online social network privacy setting. Department of
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission C. S. C, Computer Science, Columbia University.
Department of Labor, & Department of Justice. (1978).
Madera, M. J. (2012). Using social networking websites as a
Uniform guidelines on employee selection procedures. Federal
selection tool: The role of selection process fairness and job
Register, 43(166), 38295-38309. pursuit intentions. International Journal of Hospitality
Finlex 2004, The Act on the Protection of Privacy in Working Management, 31, pp. 1276- 1282.
Life 759/2004
Markkanen, M., (2002), Onnistu rekrytionnissa (Succes in
http://www.finlex.fi/fi/laki/ajantasa/2004/20040759 [Accessed
recruiting), Helsinki: Werner Söderström Osakeyhtiö.
Dec 01 2013]
Marwick, e. & boyd, d.m. 2010, “I tweet honestly, I tweet
Falcone, P. (2009). Ninety-six great Interview Questions to Ask
passionately’’: Twitter users, context collapse, and the imagined
Before You Hire. Amazon Books.
audience’, New Media & Society, vol. 13, no. 1, pp.114-133.
Florea, V. N., Badea, M. (2013). Acceptance of new
Ovadia, S., (2011). An early introduction to the Google+ social
Technologies in HR: E-Recruitment in Organizations.
networking project. Behavioral and Social Sciences Librarian
Proceedings of the European Conference on Information
30, 259-263.
Management & Evaluation, pp. 344-352.
Parry, E., Wilson, H., (2009), Factors influencing the adoption
Foot, M., Hook. C,. (2008). Introducing Human Resource of online recruitment, Personnel Review, Vol. 38, No. 6, pp.
Management, 5th ed. Edinburg: Pearson Education Limited.
655-673.
Forty-five Percent of Employers. (2009). Forty-five percent of
Pollach, I. (2011). Online privacy as a corporate social
employers use social networking sites to research job
responsibility: an empirical study. Business Ethics: A European
candidates, CareerBuilder survey finds: Career expert provides
Review 20(1), pp. 88-102
dos and don’ts for jobseekers on social networking.
CareerBuilder.com Press Releases. Retrieved from Roberts, S. J., & Roach, T. (2009). Social networking web sites
http://www.careerbuilder.com/share/aboutus/pressreleasesdetail and human resource personnel: Suggestions for job searches.
.aspx?id=pr519&sd+8/19/2009&ed=12/31/2009 Business Communication Quarterly, 72(1), 110-114.
Roth, P. L., Bobko, P., Van Iddekinge, C. H., Thatcher, J. B.
(2012). Social media and employee selection: Literature-based

.
expectations of adverse impact. Paper presented at the Academy Smith-Butler, L., (2009). Workplace Privacy: We’ll Be
of Management Annual Conference, Boston, MA. Wachting You. Ohio Northern Law Review 35.
Rozelle, L. A., Landis S. R. (2002). An examination of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology. (2003).
relationship between the use of the Internet as a recruitment Principles for the validation and use of personnel selection
source and student attitudes. Computers in Human Behaviour, procedures (4th ed.). Bowling Green, OH: Author.
18 (5), pp. 593-571. Statista. (2015). The Statistics Portal. Retrieved from
Sanchez Abril, P., Levin, A., Del Riego, A., (2012). Blurred http://www.statista.com/statistics/272014/global-social-
Boundaries: Social Media Privacy and the Twenty-First networks-ranked-by-number-of-users/ [Accessed on
Century Employee. American Business Law Journal 49(1), pp. 26/10/2015]
63-124 Torrington, D., Laura. H., Taylor, S., (2005). Human Resource
Sackett, P. R., Roth, L. (1996). Multi-stage selection strategies: Management. Harlow: Pearson Education.
A Monte Carlo investigation of effects on performance and Truxillo, D.M., Steiner, D.D., Gilliland, S.W., 2004. The
minority hiring. Personnel Psychology, 49, 549-572. importance of organizational justice in personnel selection:
Schoening, K., Kleisinger, K., (2010). Off-Duty Privacy: How Defining when selection fairness really matters. International
Far Can Employers Go. N. Ky. L. Rev. 37, 287. Journal of Selection and Assessment 12, 39-53.
SHRM. (2011). SHRM survey findings: The use of social Valvis, M., (2005), Personnel Management: Changes and
networking websites and online search engines in screening job company’s action programs, Propomdos: Athens.
candidates. Retrieved from Wang, Y., Norcie, G., Komanduri, S., Acquisti, A., Leon, P.G.,
http://shrm.org/research/survey/findings/articles/pages/theuseof Cranor, L.F., (2011). I regretted the minute I pressed share: A
socialnetworkingwebsitesandonlinesearchenginesinscreeningjo qualitative study of regrets on Facebook. In: Proceedings of the
bcandidates.aspx Seventh Symposium on Usable Privacy and Security, p. 10.
Slovensky, R., Ross, W.H., (2012). Should human resource Withiam, G., (2011). Social networking websites and the
managers use social media to screen job applicants? Managerial hospitality industry: holding the tiger by the tail. Cornell
and legal issues in the USA. Info 14(1), pp. 59-69 Hospitality Research Summit Proceedings 3, 6-15.
Smith, W. P., Kidder, D. L., (2010). You’ve been tagged! (Then Workforce. (2000). What’s up with Internet recruiting?.
again, maybe not): Employers and Facebook. Business Retrieved from
Horizons, 53, 491-499. http://www.dawsonconsultinggroup.com/pdfs/Workforse0300.P
DF