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Reading Between the Lines: Interpreting LinkedIn Profiles During Pre-Employment Applicant Screening

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A new job applicant might have an impressive LinkedIn profile with lots of interaction and hundreds of endorsements, but how does an employer tell the different between someone with social networking savvy and someone with actual, relevant skills and expertise? Find out how to read between the lines on LinkedIn so you can find candidates during the pre-employment applicant screening process that truly meet your needs.

Pre-Employment Applicant Screening

Understanding LinkedIn Profiles During Pre-Employment Applicant Screening

Endorsements Likely Don’t Mean Much

LinkedIn’s endorsement system lets users endorse each other for various skill sets and knowledge. On the surface, an endorsement is someone backing a user’s claim that he or she has a specific skill. In reality, it’s hard to tell whether endorsements are genuine or are just users patting each other on the back. LinkedIn’s system suggests users endorse each other, and agreeing with a self-stated skill on the platform is as easy as liking a post on Facebook. Take the skills and endorsements list with the same grain of salt you would take similar information listed in a resume.

Look for Knowledge Displays

As with information on traditional resumes, experience, education, and work history on LinkedIn can be falsified or inflated. It’s harder to pass off incorrect information in an online environment where past coworkers and bosses might also have profiles, but it’s not impossible. Instead of taking a profile at face value, dig deeper into the descriptions a candidate supplies on their profile. Look for industry or career-specific verbiage. Lack of any verbiage—or verbiage clearly used in improper context—is a clue that the person has inflated his or her experience. Other knowledge displays that help you decide if an applicant is genuine include links or lists of publications, education lists, and interaction in groups on the platform. Pre-employment applicant screening services can include verification options for past employment verification, education verification, and professional license verification.

Don’t Rely Solely on LinkedIn

Never rely solely on the information in a LinkedIn profile—or a traditional resume—when hiring a candidate. Verify professional references and work history and use pre-employment applicant screening services to ensure the candidate meets your requirements when it comes to issues such as driving records or criminal background checks.

Disclaimer Statement: All information presented is never intended as legal advice and is for information purposes only.

The Buck Stops With Human Resource Managers: The Importance of Pre-Screening Applicants

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For human resource managers, the importance of finding qualified candidates, in a timely fashion, must be carefully balanced with who that person really is. With the increase of violence in today’s workplace, these human resource decisions are more critical than ever.

Human Resource Managers

What is workplace violence? According to the Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) it is defined as “Any act or threat of physical violence, harassment, intimidation, or other threatening disruptive behavior that occurs at the work site.” It can range from simple verbal threats to physical violence, and in some cases, even homicide. In 2014 alone, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that there were 403 workplace homicides.

When such instances occur, many times the employee’s file will be reviewed to see if there were any other instances of this behavior at work. But what that won’t even uncover is what a thorough background check may have uncovered prior to hiring.

Thorough background screenings and checks can help better determine the character and quality of a candidate before they are hired. They can also demonstrate that human resource managers have done their due diligence in each hire. This can be critical when the human resource office is where the buck stops.

Beyond conducting extensive background screenings, OSHA also recommends workplaces initiate a zero tolerance policy when it comes to workplace violence. They also believe a well-constructed and implemented workplace violence prevention program combined with administrative controls and training can minimize violent incidents.

OHSA makes a point in reminding employers that their workers have a right to a safe workplace. In fact, Federal law requires that employees have “a safe and healthful workplace.” It is important to note that the law does not make a distinction between small or large businesses in this matter.

As violence in the workplace increases, human resource managers should step up the intensity of their applicant pre-employment screening.

Simply contacting past employers and personal references may not be enough anymore. Acquiring the services of a background screening company can help. This step can better protect fellow employees, the company involved and the human resource managers. It is a step that, especially in today’s environment, should be carefully considered.

Disclaimer Statement: All information presented is never intended as legal advice and is for information purposes only.

Part-Time Employee And Juvenile Background Checks

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Juvenile Background Checks

Background checks are par for the course among full-time employers, but an increasing number of part-time employers are also following suit. The result is a greater number of high school employees being asked to satisfy background screening requirements, with many of these young workers not even having reached the age of eighteen. Although records for young offenders are often sealed, juvenile background checks have a way of revealing details indicative of whether a particular teen could be a risk to take on. Equipped with this information, employers must determine whether juvenile applicants who fail to pass obligatory juvenile background checks are worth the risk they pose.

Why Screen for Juvenile Background Checks

When making hiring decisions, some employers are quick to give younger applicants the benefit of the doubt, with many failing to even bother with a criminal background search for teenage prospects. These employers believe that they can learn everything they need through the interview process or, perhaps, by checking a few references. While both approaches are excellent for determining whether an applicant has a future with the company for which they have applied, this may not be enough to determine whether a young applicant could pose a risk if hired. With teens, as with all other applicants, background screening can remove some doubt.

Even trusting employers find themselves performing background screening on adolescent applicants simply because they believe that it is fair to all of the other employees. If one applicant must pass a background screening in order to be hired, it is only fair to ask the same of the others, regardless of age.

What To Do If A Teenage Applicant Fails A Juvenile Background Checks Screening

Failed juvenile background checks are of major concern for any employer, as this most likely indicates that the applicant has committed a crime within the last year or two. Can the prospective employee be trusted to have changed his or her ways since then? It is important to follow through and ask the employee for an explanation, as well as proof of completed community service hours. Some leniency is to be expected, as teenagers are prone to mistakes. Through the criminal background follow-up process, worried employers can determine whether potentially problematic adolescent applicants are likely to make similar mistakes while on the job.

Disclaimer Statement: All information presented is never intended as legal advice and is for information purposes only.

The Rise of Social HR

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A workplace trend known as social HR continues to gain momentum in 2015. It proves that social media is for more than just entertainment purposes off-the-clock. Over the years, many employees have learned the hard way that their social media profiles can and do influence whether they get and keep a job. Unprofessional photos and badmouthing a company or boss on Facebook have led to plenty of careless employees getting canned.

Social HR

Now social media has permeated even deeper, becoming an aide to human resource professionals. Not only can it help to narrow down potential employees during recruiting, track employee arrivals, and promote and market to increase sales, but it is also a crucial component to attracting employees. According to MIT Sloan, a study published in 2015 and reported on in Forbes found that more than 50 percent of all employees want to work in a job where their bosses and managers have what’s called “social business sophistication.”

While some may dismiss this as another branch of millennial entitlement, doing so is foolish. With these millennials becoming a bigger and bigger part of the current workforce, some employers that have been stuck in their ways will have to change with the times to best benefit their company.

Social HR includes leveraging social media for the benefit of a company.

Social media is everywhere, and people literally take it with them whenever they go. Not only can you access Google+ or Facebook on your smartphone or tablet, but now with wearable technology like the Apple Watch, the world is around your wrist. Business Insider Intelligence reports through Forbes that in a few short years in 2018 that the wearable technology trend will grow into a $12 billion cash cow.

Employers shouldn’t shy away from the Apple Watch and related technology. Instead, wearables can benefit employees and employers alike, especially once the Microsoft Band surfaces, which can handle phone calls and emails on the go. Employees are always accessible, and if you can reach out to someone at any time, work gets done faster without stressful time crunches.

These wearable devices also have access to apps and can be integrated with social HR tools. While an employer may think that these are just time-wasters, many companies have created their own apps for their customers to use. Gartner through Forbes found that at least 25 percent of enterprise companies should have an app by 2017. Those without a wearable device can still social HR use apps, which are available on tablets, smartphones, and even some computers. Once again these streamline work. Of course, HR Pros will have to use social HR technology on a case-by-case basis.

Disclaimer Statement: All information presented is never intended as legal advice and is for information purposes only.

Source: http://www.hrzone.com/hr-glossary/what-is-social-hr

Economy Adding Jobs as Unemployment Rate Remains Steady

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The latest government jobs report held both good and bad news for unemployed and underemployed workers. On the positive side, the U.S. economy continues to add jobs, with 126,000 nonfarm positions added in March. However, the employment sector is growing at a much slower pace that at any time in recent history.

Jobs

The unemployment rate held steady at 5.5 percent, as many economists had predicted it would. But economists also say wage growth has been stagnant during the recent recovery, NPR reports, and the unemployment rate may not fully represent the number of people looking for jobs.

The latest employment jobs numbers

The report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) notes that in March, the number of unemployed people in the United States stood at 8.6 million, down by a little more than 1 percent in the past year. Additionally, the number of new unemployed people dropped by 157,000 in March and has decreased by 342,000 over the previous year. The number of long-term unemployed people dropped by 1.1 million over the past year.

Effects for workers and employers

NPR also reports that wage growth is at about 50 percent of its typical rate, suggesting that employers can attract workers easily without offering higher compensation. The sluggish wage growth also may mean that the reported unemployment rate doesn’t include everyone looking for a job.

Many part-time workers — some 6.5 million — would like to have full-time jobs. BLS reports that many of these workers have had their hours cut back or are unable to find full-time jobs.

In addition, BLS noted that in March, 2.1 million people wanted to work and had job-searched over the past year but had not tried in the month prior to the survey. Among those individuals, 738,000 were “discouraged workers” — those not looking for work because they feel certain nothing is available.

The report also included good news for certain employment sectors that continued to trend in a positive direction: business and professional services, retail and the health care industry.

Disclaimer Statement: All information presented is never intended as legal advice and is for information purposes only.

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) government jobs report http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm

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