"Googling" applicants

BLR_equayle

Have you “Googled” any applicants or gone to social sites such as “MySpace” for more information on them?  Do you think this is a good practice?

shelby_o

Yes, I have recently begun Google-ing potential applicants and looking them up in My Space, although it's not something I would admit to them! So far I have not found anything that would make me not hire someone.

BarbieW

I have had managers who did this kind of search on google and found information on a candidate that was posted on MySpace. I think you have to be very careful about using that information. It may be very old and posted when the individual was in school, or it could have been posted by someone else. I'm not sure it is a good idea to use this type of search in hiring, but I'd be curious to know what others have to say about it.

SFbay

I think there are better ways to screen applicants than using Google or MySpace. How reliable is the information you'd find?  How does it pertain to the job?  What if they find information that reveals something that is protected under federal, state, or local law and an applicant claims the manager used it in their hiring decision?

BarbieW

I recently heard that searchs made on MySpace and other sites like it, track who has visited the site. If we do use these sites to screen applicants, will they be able to tell that we visited their site?

fisHRman

There is a good article on 'Net Reputations and how recruiters research on the Web at http://bostonworks.boston.com/news/articles/2007/02/25/your_past_is_lurking_online/