Digital Profiling in Pre-employment
Introduction
Hello guys,
In my previous post about Introduction to Psychology in The Corporate And Cyber Security, I have discussed with you the application of psychology in the corporate sector and data security. Some of you have argued about the polygraph as a pre-employment and screening method and I am glad that my article provoked interest and discussion.
While the application of the polygraph in the corporate sector is truly an interesting and controversial subject, which I will again return to in the parts to follow, today I would like to begin with something else and new to me.
I would like to continue the topic by diving deeply in one of the methods I chose for this post – Digital profiling.
So far, we have already discussed that digital profiling could be really useful for investigating various cyber crimes and finding their perpetrators by understanding their motivation, personality traits, modus operandi etc.
While today experts create and apply successfully digital profiles of suspects all around the world, digital profiling is rising interest in different field of work also – job recruiting.
It won’t be a shocker to anyone if we say that we live in the last days of the traditional paper job applications. Thе procеss of collеcting and analyzing job applications havе movеd in a complеtеly digital dirеction – and it providеs richеr insights into candidatеs than еvеr. Today every recruiter wants to talk to you on the phone, requires all your documents sent by e-mail, asks you about your LinkedIn profile or makes the first connection by social media. In other words the majority of recruiters and hiring managers use digital data to understand their potential employees.
Naturally, most people today create and maintain their own digital profile. We see that everyday on Facebook, LinkedIn and even here in Steemit. It’s our digital self-representation and its purpose is to provide information to other people.
Of course recruiters know this and that’s why very often digital profiling goes deeper than just analyzing your digital self-representation on social medias.
Using digital profiling, recruiters can get a better idea of what people are truly like, beyond their polished paper resume. A professional, motivated person will use sites like LinkedIn wisely, to create the best image of themselves that is appealing to prospective employers.
When Digital Profiling Goes Beyond LinkedIn
No matter if you are job candidate or recruiter, you should know that there is often more to a digital profile than what is available on LinkedIn. Keep in mind that as a job candidate you could also do your own “investigation” and attempt to create a digital profile of your future employer. A quick internet search can reveal a lot about a person, or a company. If they are on their way investigating you why shouldn’t you do so as well ?
While most recruiters are well aware of this fact, you should also know this and maintain your desired professional online presence across the social medias you use. Yes that includes even your “private” Facebook account. Of course we know that when we say Facebook, there is nothing private about it and the sooner you understand this fact the better it’s gonna be.
What are the risks?
Well, firstly, some of the photos and posts you share could be public. If they are not in accordance with your digital profile and out of your control, they could become a potential problem.
Of course thanks to the recent scandal we all now know for a fact that Facebook is selling data. While there is a really small chance that a certain company has the connections and such interest in you in order to pull this data, the very fact of this practice’s existence is disturbing and surly should not be ignored.
Some of today’s recruiters go even further by creating fake profiles, sending you messages and friend invites in order to get more data about your digital appearance. When we talk about privacy, keep in mind that it’s not a very good idea to add random people to your “private social account” and then complain about it.
Your online connections and interactions, follows, memberships, likes are all a pool of vast information which could be used to inform recruiters and other people about where you are with your career or career seeking.
Why does it all matter?
“I don’t care about what I post or say in social media”
While digital profiling is strictly related to the data you post online, the information it provides goes beyond that. It can reveal cues about your potential productivity, motivation, social interactions and state of education.
The way you represent yourself on social media could be indicating whether or not you are trying to get on the radar of potential employers or even specific ones, or are trying to connect to new people with the same interests.
For example, if you post kittens and memes all day, chances are that the recruiter could conclude that you are not a very productive person in life. Of course, this is just a plain example in order to illustrate the logic behind it. Don’t take it as a solid fact. You get the point.
On the contrary, a recruiter may look at your online activity and see that you are dedicated to the field of work, you have connections with people with the same interests and you don’t use your social account all day long to post irrelevant content.
Keep your digital profile clean
While I am not a recruiter myself, I know plenty of them who shared with me that today there are a lot of cases when a person gets rejected not because of their CV or perfect LinkedIn profile, but because of the inconsistency of their other social media accounts in comparison to their professional self-representation.
Many people today still argue that Facebook is their own private space where they can express themselves and post all sorts of (sometimes) inappropriate content. If you are one of them, I’ve got really bad news for you.
What to do?
Here are some basic tips, which would help you build your desired digital profile.
Note: Further reading and deeper understanding of this topic is required in order to get the maximum of it.
Imagine that you want to hire yourself on a certain position. How would you approach?
Google yourself on a regular basis in order to see what information is available for others to see about yourself. You could add some keywords to your name or put it in quatation to see what’s up.
By the way, while we are still on this point, check out this site, to see how Google tracks all of your activity online. Just look at the information it provides about you and let that sink in for a moment.
Of course, Google says that “it would never give that information to anyone else but yourself”. We all know that’s absolutely true, right? Right??
Put some effort in your LinkedIn appearance.
While today most recruiters go beyond LinkedIn, there’s always a chance that some might not. In any case, having a professional looking LinkedIn profile is always a good idea.
Manage your Facebook content, privacy settings and connections.
We already covered why that’s a good idea.
Make sure that there’s nothing on your various social accounts that contradicts your digital self-representation.
Final Comment
Hopefully this topic was interesting to you and my article beneficial. As you know, the point of my posts is not to educate you, but rather to spark a discussion and provoke further interest and thoughts about the subject. So feel free to share yours with me !
Please, if you have enjoyed this article, support me by re-steeming it and upvoting it ! It means a lot ! Thanks for your attention :)
As always your writing inspires me to answer.
If I would be young that maybe would scare me. Gladly, I am beyond all that profiling & applying for jobs. Even though, I wouldn't care that much as my job searches would only take place between the people I already know and my local realm where I can ask others to speak of my reputation. As long as I can get hold of people physically I do not fear to be jobless.
For the next generations, this will be a problem, though if they don't take care of their digital appearances. To educate them is needed and here comes your article in play which is of great help and sense of reality.
Also, what I think is the more integrity one owns the less he or she is in danger to be dismissed by whatever company is looking for recruits. In business, the staff departments or business owners always look for authentic people and not for blenders and off showers. So, one is on the safe side when acts and behaves in all of his realms morally/ethically correct (private or business - weird, even to distinguish them). Best insurance of all!
I can see that my son is much more cautious and already behaves more realistic than some of the twenty-somethings do. It's the advantage of the coming Internet generation to have learned through the uses of the adults around them. But of course, he will be mistaken and get his learnings, as well. Some things cannot be prevented and some people even have to learn the hard way.
They are our "not so smart mirrors":-) and we can thank them. LOL!
At least: All people should know and DO actually know that the digital you never really can represent the real you. This should always be emphasized, as well.
Thank you for your thoughts.
This will change. But it depends if that's going to happen before or after it's "too late" for them.
Completely agree. No matter what - we all have our own road to walk, make mistakes, grow and avoid them in the future !
I always go to glassdoor to check the company. It's kind of bad that they go check your Facebook because I almost never use it. I go there only when I want to laugh with memes lol
Nice tips and nice article.
Facebook is a double-edged sword. Thanks for your thoughts :)
Hi @dysfunctional, I came across this post searching in social profiling area. It is very true all of our on-line information can be used against us. Apart from recruiting, it goes much deeper and I believe we are moving from ethnic and cultural profiling into social profiling era, where people are ranked and treated according to digital information on all aspect of our lives. China is leading the way as usual. Please check out my post on the subject if you are interested https://steemit.com/life/@cryptasana/you-ve-been-rated
Thanks for stopping by !
When I find the time to read your post, I would most definitely do !
Cheers !