Do recruiters check your social media? What hiring managers really look for

Professional social media platforms like Linkedin and others can influence hiring and firing decisions of an employee. According to an ET article, Sachin Sharma, a product career coach, shared a story from one of his clients who works at a well- known company.

He said that in his company there were two employees in the same team but with different salaries (one earned Rs 9 lakh, while the other made Rs 18 lakh). The employee with the higher salary was seen as exceptionally competent, yet was fired during layoffs while the employee earning Rs 9 lakh was retained. Although the higher paid employee was competent, his connections were mostly limited to the office and he lacked recognition outside of it.

In contrast, the Rs 9 lakh earning individual had built a strong professional network in social media including Linkedin and constantly shared insights about the job profile and scope. As a result, he gained credibility in the wider industry.

This incident raises an important question; if all companies follow this practice then what should employees do?

Do companies typically evaluate a candidate’s social media presence (posts, likes, comments) before hiring?

Murali Santhanam, CHRO, AscentHR Technologies said to ET Wealth Online that some companies are known to browse the candidates’ social media presence, posts, visits, photographs etc before hiring.

However, Santhanam says that most organisations do not do this for two reasons
• One, there are just too many candidates to hire and the number of candidates to source, screen and select is sometimes one in five or one in ten depending on the level.
• Two, some organisations take a view that candidates’ social media presence and conversations are their personal choices and their personal life and should not impact the hiring decision.

Santhanam says that some companies work on this school of thought “information available is information usable” and thus may use social media data of the candidates as an additional source of information. However, there is no evidence or research yet to show if this thought process works.

Shailesh Khanna, Brand lead of ManpowerGroup India, said to ET Wealth Online that social media is increasingly becoming an extension of a candidate’s professional identity. It offers a real-time view into how individuals think, what they engage with, and how they position themselves within their domain.

Khanna says: “Many organizations do look at this, but more as contextual input rather than a screening mechanism. The evaluation is less about reach and more about depth, clarity of thought, consistency, and professional judgment.”

Pratik Vaidya, Managing Director and Chief Vision Officer, Karma Management Global Consulting Solutions, says that some recruiters review social media profiles as part of the hiring process. It helps them understand how a person communicates, what they engage with, and how they present themselves publicly.

According to Vaidya, social media is also increasingly being used as a space where candidates showcase their work, ideas, and professional thinking. Vaidya says: “This allows employers to go beyond resumes and get a clearer picture of the individual, including any behaviour that may raise concerns.”

Advice for employees who use social media a lot and have a significant following?

Tina Vas, CHRO, Sagility, says that social media is certainly effective for organizations to engage with future talent. Having a credible and authentic voice on social media helps organizations become employers of choice.

Employees too engage with the organization’s social media content as well as pursue personal interests on various social media platforms.

According to Vas, in industries such as healthcare operations, the employees have to deal with sensitive client data and stringent data privacy policies. This is why companies encourage employees to become their brand ambassadors on social media but also need to train the employees during induction to make sure that they do not share confidential client information and always remain respectful when making public observations.

Vas says: “Having a personal social handle which showcases their personal passions is now a norm especially for younger employees but using that responsibly becomes crucial when in an employee-employer relationship.”

If organisations begin to rely on employees’ social media credibility, does this create any potential risks?

According to Santhanam from AscentHR Technologies, there is the risk of hiring without checking social media presence and finding out later that it was a wrong hire and in retrospect, checking of the social media presence to justify the decision.

The converse is also true. Santhanam says that the percentage of wrong hires with or without checking social media presence, does not seem alarming, except for the fact that irresponsible participation on social media could impact the reputation of the organisation where the employee works.

According to Santhanam, organisations need to make employees aware that once they join, they have an equal responsibility to protect the credibility of the organisation they work for, as much as they need to think about their own credibility.

Santhanam says: “These conversations and sessions can mitigate the risk of disrepute to the organisation caused by irresponsible or immature use of social media by an individual.”