HR Technology There is no doubt that in the past 5 years social media has had a profound impact on almost all areas of the business world. Social media services and communities are so prevalent that it is rare to go a day without seeing the Facebook logo splashed across a company’s billboard Ad or to connect with past and present colleagues on LinkedIn. Many of us even “Tweet” about the most mundane activities of our workday (i.e. RT @dailyhrtips is eating a turkey sandwich for lunch today).

It is clear that social media is here to stay and most major companies have more or less embraced the power these tools provide. Most organizations, large and small, maintain company social media accounts ranging from Facebook and Twitter to Digg and StumbleUpon and often use these mediums in the their marketing and advertising plans. Just take a look Monster.com and you will see that there is a growing need for social media and online community coordinators.

There have been many articles written about the importance of social media in marketing and advertising, but little thought has been given to the role it plays in an organization’s hiring process. The HR, sales, and marketing departments typically occupy different corners of the corporate office, but they share a common role as brand ambassadors. It is widely accepted that employees and their conduct reflect upon the company they work for. What is not often considered, however, is the impact that the hiring and interview process can have on corporate reputation and perception. The hiring and interviewing process should be regarded as an extension of marketing and failure to do so puts companies at risk of significantly damaging reputation and countering positive outgoing efforts–especially in an age of social media, brand identity is more vulnerable than ever.

Most job candidates today are savvy enough to put certain restrictions on their social media accounts to ensure potential employers do not find embarrassing pictures or other information that could put their candidacy at risk. However, many companies have not thought about the power a slighted candidate may have, should they leave an interview with a sour taste in their mouth. If an interview were to go poorly and a candidate felt belittled by the experience, they can and often will log onto to their Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter accounts or personal blogs to vent negative experiences to their social and professional networks. Taking into account the tech-savvy population today, damage to a company’s brand is merely a 140-character tweet, status update, or blog post away. According to David Litherland, employment expert from Summit Search Group, a Vancouver, British Columbia based recruitment firm,

Professionals involved in hiring often forget their responsibilities as interviewers and as a result, not only lose out on potential talent, but impact the company’s image in a negative way.” He goes further to note, “At Summit, we encourage companies to allow enough time for each interview, to maintain positive company messaging, and to treat candidates with the same respect as they would a potential client.

It is clear that every job candidate who leaves the office, whether qualified for the position or not, should leave the interview thinking that “this would be a great company to work for; I hope I get the job!” With this in mind, here is some useful advice to ensure your hiring and interviewing process does not reflect poorly on your overall brand:

1. Make sure interviewers are briefed on the importance of their role as organizational ambassadors during the interview process, and that they need to treat job candidates as they would treat a potential customer.
2. Interviewers need to be trained and interviews should be coordinated. It is not acceptable any longer for interviewers to ask “off-the-cuff” questions that may have already been put to the candidate by other interviewers in the organization. The interviewers should agree upon interview questions in advance so that they are not duplicative and they should always link directly to the job requirements. Additionally, interviewers need to be prepared to see the candidate and have thoroughly read the candidate’s resume and thought about the questions they wish to ask.
3. Use telephone pre-screening of candidates so you are pretty sure that they have the qualities you are looking for before you take up valuable face-to-face interview time.
4. Once you have screened the candidate and are reasonably sure they are a fit with the kind of person you are looking for, allow enough time for the interviews to take place and also allow time between interviews if the candidate is seeing multiple interviewers on the same day. This will allow the candidate to catch his or her breath between interviews.
5. Interviews are a very important way of collecting information from the candidate; however, many organizations are supplementing the interview process with personality and skills assessments, which can help to predict how the candidate will fit with the organization’s culture and his future colleagues. Seek the advice of a qualified Industrial/Organizational psychologist to find the most appropriate tests and assessments for the position, and remember any assessments must meet the guidelines for pre-hire testing published by the EEOC.

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