Social Networking and the Selection Process
The use of social networking sites for making hiring decisions continues to grow but the research still lags behind (Davison, Maraist, & Bing, 2011). A review of the psychological literature reveals limited empirical data regarding the use of such sites for recruitment or selection purposes. The limited empirical research has primarily focused on information presented on Facebook, a networking site that is primarily social in nature. Other sites like LinkedIn present information that is more professional in nature. Dr. Comila Shahani-Denning, Associate Professor of Psychology and Co-Director of the M.A. program in I/O Psychology at Hofstra University, and her students are currently engaged in an interesting program of research aimed at addressing some of the shortcomings in the literature regarding the use of social media – specifically LinkedIn – in the selection process.
While there is abundant anecdotal evidence regarding the use of social networking sites, there has been no empirical research examining how employers use the information gleaned from sites like LinkedIn. The use of this publicly available information for making hiring decisions is fraught with legal challenges and using the information on these websites to make job-related decisions has not been validated (Davison, Maraist, & Bing, 2011). LinkedIn profiles often include pictures, recommendations, and events, which present the opportunity for various non-job related information to be present. The legality of this information continues to be problematic particularly when employers might use information posted that reflects non-job related characteristics, such as race, age, gender, parental status, etc. There has been research documenting different call back rates for resumes with prototypical Caucasian vs. African-American names (Brown &Vaugn, 2011). One can only imagine the potential for discrimination using publicly available online information.
Recently Dr. Shahani-Denning has sponsored two studies using fictitious LinkedIn profiles to assess the impact of information presented by applicants on LinkedIn. Again, while LinkedIn is a professional site, the use of pictures, recommendations, and events present the opportunity for non-job related information to be present.
First, in her doctoral dissertation, Indre Staninaite (an active METRO member!) examined motherhood bias and hypothesized that a key variable in minimizing motherhood bias is perceived job commitment. They had 184 LinkedIn users employed as managers and executives at U.S. companies evaluate a fictitious profile in which motherhood status and job commitment were manipulated. Job commitment turned out to be a better predictor of job-relevant criteria than motherhood status. In her Master’s thesis, Lisa Paik examined the attractiveness of the applicant as presented on their LinkedIn profile picture. She hypothesized that one could mitigate the attractiveness bias by increasing the amount of job relevant information presented on the profile. She recruited participants via LinkedIn and randomly assigned them to one of six conditions in which attractiveness and the amount of information were varied but all applicants were presented as qualified. Her results indicated a lack of effects for both attractiveness and amount of information. These studies are promising for organizations using LinkedIn as a hiring tool because it would mean that job relevant factors hold more weight than certain non-job relevant factors such as attractiveness and parental status.
Currently, Dr. Shahani-Denning and her team are continuing this program of research. Some of the questions they plan to investigate are: What does a typical LinkedIn profile actually look like? How do profiles vary across job levels? How does the size and quality of a person’s network vary across job level and what impact does it have on recruiting and selection? What impact do LinkedIn recommendations have? The team is planning several qualitative and experimental studies to address these issues, which will certainly make a practical and scientific contribution to the field.
Reported by: Terri Shapiro
While there is abundant anecdotal evidence regarding the use of social networking sites, there has been no empirical research examining how employers use the information gleaned from sites like LinkedIn. The use of this publicly available information for making hiring decisions is fraught with legal challenges and using the information on these websites to make job-related decisions has not been validated (Davison, Maraist, & Bing, 2011). LinkedIn profiles often include pictures, recommendations, and events, which present the opportunity for various non-job related information to be present. The legality of this information continues to be problematic particularly when employers might use information posted that reflects non-job related characteristics, such as race, age, gender, parental status, etc. There has been research documenting different call back rates for resumes with prototypical Caucasian vs. African-American names (Brown &Vaugn, 2011). One can only imagine the potential for discrimination using publicly available online information.
Recently Dr. Shahani-Denning has sponsored two studies using fictitious LinkedIn profiles to assess the impact of information presented by applicants on LinkedIn. Again, while LinkedIn is a professional site, the use of pictures, recommendations, and events present the opportunity for non-job related information to be present.
First, in her doctoral dissertation, Indre Staninaite (an active METRO member!) examined motherhood bias and hypothesized that a key variable in minimizing motherhood bias is perceived job commitment. They had 184 LinkedIn users employed as managers and executives at U.S. companies evaluate a fictitious profile in which motherhood status and job commitment were manipulated. Job commitment turned out to be a better predictor of job-relevant criteria than motherhood status. In her Master’s thesis, Lisa Paik examined the attractiveness of the applicant as presented on their LinkedIn profile picture. She hypothesized that one could mitigate the attractiveness bias by increasing the amount of job relevant information presented on the profile. She recruited participants via LinkedIn and randomly assigned them to one of six conditions in which attractiveness and the amount of information were varied but all applicants were presented as qualified. Her results indicated a lack of effects for both attractiveness and amount of information. These studies are promising for organizations using LinkedIn as a hiring tool because it would mean that job relevant factors hold more weight than certain non-job relevant factors such as attractiveness and parental status.
Currently, Dr. Shahani-Denning and her team are continuing this program of research. Some of the questions they plan to investigate are: What does a typical LinkedIn profile actually look like? How do profiles vary across job levels? How does the size and quality of a person’s network vary across job level and what impact does it have on recruiting and selection? What impact do LinkedIn recommendations have? The team is planning several qualitative and experimental studies to address these issues, which will certainly make a practical and scientific contribution to the field.
Reported by: Terri Shapiro