Will online screening soon be used in recruitment?

In the future, employers may turn to online sources to screen potential employees ahead of the recruitment process, it has been claimed.

Indeed, HR managers are increasingly using online profiles on social networking sites to assess the suitability of potential recruits, according to the results of a new survey.

The research by Microsoft UK revealed 41 per cent of HR managers surveyed have rejected a candidate as a result of their online profile and 64 per cent believe it is appropriate to consider personal online information while evaluating candidates.

Commenting on the news, Felix Wetzel, group marketing director at Jobsite, said he believed increasing numbers of employers would turn to such sources when it came to recruitment in the future, alongside more traditional screening methods such as CVs, telephone interviews, assessment days and references.

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He warned candidates: “Any comments about doing a sickie from work or being hungover on the job will not cast you in a positive light.”

And Mr Wetzel added employers were also unlikely to look favourably at any potential employee who had posted excessive bad language or any discriminatory comments that are racist or sexist on their online profile pages.