Should Employers look at Prospective Employees Social Media Profile?

Guests: Jamar Wright, Leadership Consultant at Mind Food International Ltd. Natassia Wright, HR Consultant at Mind Food International Ltd. Welcome to Your Business Matters, a podcast of EXIM Bank Jamaica where we bring thought leaders together on thought-provoking ideas and methods to help grow your business. Social media has made it very easy for us to communicate beyond borders and conduct business. From sharing the latest achievement to sharing the location of a good restaurant, we can all agree that social media has benefited society one way or another. However today on Your Business Matters, we face the elephant in the room: should employers screen the social media profiles of their prospective employees? Business Daily, in a recent publication, noted, "what you post on social media could have serious repercussions on your professional life." A career-building survey conducted in 2018 showed that around 70% of employers use social media to screen their candidates and another 43% of employers monitor the social media platforms of their current staff. Today we are joined by Jamar Wright, Leadership Consultant: Mind Food International Ltd, and Natassia Wright, HR Consultant, also at Mind Food International Ltd to explore this important topic. This is Your Business Matters and we are bringing the matters to the table... Some of what we discussed include: Isn’t social media screening an invasion of privacy? Has social media screening replaced background checks? Where does the professional aspect of social media come in? We also touched base with a member of our audience Dwayne Fagan who posed this question to our guests “Does it make sense to check social networks if they are   highly curated versions of candidates?” Connect with our guests: Connect with Jamar and Natassia at www.mindfoodinternational.com or call 876-781-8614.