Pic: IMAGESBAZAAR

Did you know that your online image can even influence your job prospects?

In this day and age, the first thing many of us do when we come across someone new, we "google" them, right? There is a web of information online about every active social media user. Many of us flaunt a well-manicured online image that often gives people a gist of who we are. Naturally, many hirers see this as a great opportunity to know their interviewees (read: potential employees) better. This gives them an added advantage since, "Employers often try and assess the attitude and disposition of a prospective employee in relation to various professional and social subjects. They also try and gauge the level of commitment and passion the individual is likely to demonstrate in his/her role (once hired) by observing his/her preferences, dislikes, views and opinions that are shared on public forums," says Ravi Shankar, senior VP, HR, HCL Technologies. There's a lot your profile can reveal about you. A responsible employer, however, will verify the findings and view things in the correct context before making "deductions". Nevertheless, interviewees should be aware of the fact that they will be scrutinised from all quarters and being well-behaved can pay off. 

So, what are interviewers looking for in their search? "Social media sites like help in gathering and gauging information about an interviewee from a secondary frame of reference. This could cover their softer behavioral aspects as well as an informal background verification, staying clear of any personal information that falls under the privacy domain. Today, candidates are aware of this paradigm shift and focus on ‘softer aspects' and are therefore going bold to reflect their personality. Another increasing trend is that candidates try as much as possible to make their online presence felt on the web," observes Priti Rajora, VP talent acquisition, Wipro.

Since interview processes give you a very small time window to assess the individual's capabilities and alignment to the organisation's values and culture, getting to know them a bit more personally helps. "Social media searches give detailed insights into aspects of the candidate that are not normally mentioned on their resumes, such as, references from peers and supervisors; industry and other network affiliations; reading habits; details on papers, seminars and other contributions; interests beyond work; personal agendas; viewpoints on topical issues; tone and tenor of communication; etc," says Raja Shanmugam, chief people officer, Happiest Minds Technologies Pvt. Ltd. 

However, not everything of the web can be trusted. "It is also important to realise that the social media profiles of individuals are channels of self-expressions. They cannot be taken as formal documents of submission for review. For example, recommendations on certain sites are on reciprocal basis. Also, one has the option of displaying only those recommendations one approves of," adds Shanmugam.  

Sometimes the problem is simply TMI; in other words ‘too much information'. Some information needs to be deliberately ignored in order to ensure that the decision isn't discriminatory in nature. The search can be conducted by the HR and a report highlighting the red flags can be submitted to the person who will make the final decision. What can constitute as a red flag? * drug references; * hate speech; * defamatory speech towards the company, its employees, or customers; * a high volume of status updates, which could signal a lack of productivity at work; and * explicit photos

Such activity can clearly illustrate what kind of employee the company is hiring. "The hirers may want to make sure that they will not be exposed to litigation or embarrassing moments by hiring persons who are prone to exhibiting highly deviant behaviour on social sites. In these cases, these sites could work as a good filter. However, even here, we have to give due consideration to the privacy issues and a person's personal freedom. Also, we may need to keep in mind that the profile itself may be fake, created fraudulently to cause nuisance or trouble for the real owner," advises Shanmugam. 

Hence, such information, when used wisely and properly verified, can help separate the wheat from the chaff. Be careful of your online image if you want to be sorted with the right bunch.

- Tanya Thomas

The writer can be reached at tanya.thomas@timesgroup.com