In 2021, there were 4.48 billion people actively using social media in the world. Almost 66% of the UK’s population are said to be active social media users.

We use social media for access to news and information, increasingly for decision making and typically for social interaction. It has become a vital tool used daily by the majority of its users. Social networking platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Linked-In etc are familiar ways of communicating to a wide audience of friends, family, colleagues and even people we don’t know. Indeed, over a comparatively short period of time, most of us have left a considerable social media footprint. We might have short memories but social media doesn’t and it provides a significant amount of information about our beliefs, attitudes and behaviours which increasingly organisations consider when looking to hire individuals into their organisations.

For some companies, a social media check may be a requirement as part of the mandatory vetting process. For others, it may well be to see if the individual fits the corporate values of that organisation. It’s understandable that companies want to protect themselves against a bad hire and the reputational risk it might cause. There have been many high-profile cases in the media where a social post has come to light which has adversely harmed an individual’s career or even incurred a financial penalty for the company. Of course, there are many more which don’t get the media spotlight but nevertheless leave an indelible impression on that individual. Whilst we can all make mistakes, it’s also true that a person’s online behaviour often reflects how they behave off-line.

Social Media Check (SMC) helps employers and employees to identify, manage and mitigate risks with a fully automated risk assessment service developed using machine learning and algorithms, eliminating the need for manual searching or the possibility of unconscious bias. It identifies risks across seven categories: toxic language, extreme groups, violent images, hate speech, swearing and profanity, adult images and negative sentiment. Most importantly, SMC is an approved App partner by leading social media platforms and is fully compliant, checking both public and private posts with the individual’s consent and returning a comprehensive report within thirty minutes. It uses OAuth, enabling information to be exchanged without users having to disclose their passwords. By excluding private messaging like Whatsapp and FB Messenger, it also protects the privacy of individuals.

Whilst SMC is a valuable tool for employers as part of the vetting process, it also helps to educate individuals on the appropriate use of social media and its potential impacts. After all, can you remember everything that you’ve posted online? The chance to cost-effectively find your social media history, delete or edit any posts that don’t reflect your true values today, is a good way to help secure your future tomorrow.

Landing that first job or getting that next promotion is hard enough.

Nowadays, we create a significant social media footprint. It can say a lot about our attitude, beliefs and behaviours – characteristics that are important for employers in the hiring process. 

Did you know that 90%* of employers are already checking your social media history? For some positions, a social media check may be a requirement as part of the mandatory vetting process. For others, it may well be to see if the individual fits the corporate values of that organisation. It’s understandable that companies want to protect themselves against a bad hire and the reputational risk it might cause. 

Can you remember everything you’ve posted on-line? We might have short memories but social media doesn’t.  We can all make mistakes. You’ve probably seen some of the high-profile cases in the media where a social post has come to light which has adversely affected that person’s career. Of course, there are many more which don’t get the media spotlight but have cost an individual taking that first step on the career ladder.

Far better that you check out your social media history before someone else does. Click here for more info and a short explainer video.

With your consent, our software searches all your posts, both public and private, across the major social media platforms. As our solution is fully automated, no human is looking at your posts, nor having access to your passwords. It simply and securely provides you with your own personal report in rapid time, no matter how many posts you may have made, identifying risks across seven categories: toxic language, extreme groups, violent images, hate speech, swearing and profanity, adult images and negative sentiment. You can then decide to edit or delete any posts that might now cause embarrassment or truly don’t represent you or the values you hold today.

Don’t get caught out. Go to: www.socialmediacheck.com 

*Source: Manifest 2020 Recruitment Survey, CareerBuilder Survey 2018

No matter what stage you are at with your career – starting out, going for promotion or a seasoned professional – your social media history says a lot about you.
That’s why over 90% of employers₁ (up from 71%₃) will check a potential candidate’s social media profiles as standard during the hiring process. What’s more, the chances are, you will never know because most will undertake some form of online manual check without your knowledge.
Whilst, an employer might have your CV outlining your education, skills and interests, it doesn’t reveal anything about your character or behaviours. Your social media profile does and overtime, you’ve likely built up a sizeable social media footprint. Clearly, it’s important for employers to see if you are a good cultural fit to their organisation and that you share similar values in order to protect their reputation. That’s why 21%₁ of employers have actually rejected someone after checking out their profile. What’s more, if you’re in a younger age group between 16 and 34, it’s been noted that 1 in 10 candidates₂ have been rejected because of something they’d posted online.
Quite often, it’s a naïve post made years ago that you’ve simply forgotten. A drunken night out with friends or an angry online exchange full of expletives with someone you don’t actually know. Afterall, can you remember everything you’ve posted online. Unfortunately, the internet can. What’s more, society continues to evolve, what might have been deemed acceptable in the past, may not be perceived in the same way now.
Furthermore, if you think having both a public and private profile will protect you. Think again. There’s no guarantee that something that you intended to be private won’t be shared by one of your friends either by screen grabbing the image and sharing or simply by having less stringent privacy settings.
Now more than ever, it’s important to take control of your social media profile. And that doesn’t just mean taking more care about what you post online. It’s more likely to be your history that will catch you out. If that seems a daunting task, having to go back and check all of the posts on your social media platforms, even if you could find them, it need not be.
Our solution will do that job for you in under an hour, providing a comprehensive and easy to follow, interactive report and certificate. It searches posts against nine key behavioural characteristics: toxic language, extremist groups, hate speech, swearing and profanity, potential nudity, violent images, drugs, weapons and firearms, highlighting content which might cause embarrassment, harm or reputational damage. Content can be both text or images as SMC uses Optical Character Recognition (OCR) to provide a complete and robust solution. Only you see the output and we don’t have access to your social media passwords. You can then decide to edit or delete a post that doesn’t reflect your values today.
Unlike, the manual searches referred to above, our solution is consent based by the individual, making it GDPR compliant, with simple steps to run a report. Hence why, our solution is also used by so many public and private sector companies in a collaborative approach to looking at an individual’s social media history. www.socialmediacheck-business.com
So, don’t take the risk, check out your own social media history before someone else does. It’s a small cost with big benefits. www.socialmediacheck.com
₁ standout-cv.com)
₂ (bbc.com)
₃ *Harris Poll for Express Employment professionals

KCSIE: The key proposed changes to safeguarding guidance

1. Social media checks for job applicants

Perhaps the most notable change in the consultation is on page 51, at paragraph 215, which says that when schools are recruiting new staff they “should consider” performing online searches on candidates as part of their shortlisting process:

“As part of the shortlisting process, schools and colleges should consider carrying out an online search (including social media) as part of their due diligence on the shortlisted candidates. This may help identify any incidents or issues that have happened, and are publicly available online, which the school or college might want to explore with the applicant at interview.”

Currently, the KCSIE guidance makes no mention of online searches for prospective new staff, but Simon Bevan, a partner in the education team at VWV Solicitors, says this proposed change is a logical next step, given that since 2016 schools have been advised to perform online searches in advance of guest speakers visiting the school.

“If this is the advice for someone who is always supervised and only with the children for an hour or so, then it’s worth doing for someone who is going to be in the classroom,” says Bevan.

Bevan also suggests that the online checks before appointment also make sense because it is likely parents may be doing this anyway around any new hire that is announced,

“These will inevitably happen when a new teacher starts at a school, so it’s sensible schools ‘get in there first’,” he adds.

Thomas Michael, a deputy designated safeguarding lead and welfare officer at a secondary school in the West Midlands, makes a similar point, noting that this is advice given to students about their future employers so it makes sense schools should be doing it, too.

“We always warn students about future employers searching their social media prior to interviews,” he says. “So, finally, we seem to have caught up with the advice we administer.”

However, acting on this advice is not straightforward.

Bevan warns leaders that this power needs to be used carefully to avoid accidentally discriminating against a candidate.

“If the school looks at their profile and discovers information that doesn’t go to their suitability to work in a school, then that shouldn’t impact upon your recruitment decision,” he says. “You should only be making decisions on reasonable and objective information.”

Bevan says, for example, if the checks uncover that a candidate is a parent or reveal their sexual orientation, ethnicity or another protected characteristic, that cannot be used as a basis for the decision whether or not to call them for an interview.

“That’s a potential discriminatory situation, and you would be at risk for a discrimination claim,” he warns.

“The online search is to check you’re not recruiting someone who behaves unlawfully, is unsuitable to work with children, and not bringing the school into disrepute,” Bevan says. “You have to be mindful while you’re doing it that you’re not allowing prejudice to come into your decision-making.”

This fear about the potential misuse of online searches is shared by Michael, who makes the point that searches that go too far into the past may bring up “irrelevant” information that prevents a good candidate from being shortlisted.

“The information found might be from more than a decade ago, and suggest types of behaviours or beliefs that aren’t held any more,” he says.

So what can schools do to protect themselves against a potential discrimination case? Bevan suggests using a member of staff who isn’t directly involved in the shortlisting to perform the online searches.

“They could be instructed to only pass on information about suitability to work in a school, keeping anything about protected characteristics confidential,” he says.

Bevan compares the process to equal opportunities data collection – something that “sits outside the recruitment process in the first instance” and “is only introduced to shortlisting if it impacts on their suitability to work with children”.

Michael says that the guidance needs to be more specific, too, “Although it refers to ‘checking social media’, what exactly are they checking for? And how extensively? It needs more clarity,” he adds.

Meanwhile, Craig Keady, a former DSL who now works in teacher recruitment with Satis Education, notes that if this becomes part of the formal documentation later this year, schools will need to create proper processes for doing this to ensure relevant information is found.

“A quick Google search and typing their name into the search bar on Facebook or Twitter is a starting point and will pick up the biggest of issues, but does it tell the whole story given how many platforms there are on social media, and the scale of someone’s digital footprint? Ten per cent of Twitter users have, for example, posted in excess of 1,000 tweets. Do you read them all?” he asks.
 
“The key is to develop a process that systematically reviews an individual’s online profile robustly and fairly.”

Read the entire article HERE

Online vetting is spreading—and worrying

You may never know why. The email will arrive and reasons offered for your rejection might be the real ones—or not. Companies do not always like to admit that they have been scrolling through your Instagram or Twitter feed, noting drunken photos and off-colour jokes. Yet many, particularly the big ones, are doing just that. And in increasing numbers, they are acting on what they find when deciding whom to hire and whom to pass over.

Read the entire article HERE

Watch HERE

Watch HERE

Watch HERE

Watch HERE