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Advice for Employers and Recruiters

Most Workers Would Not Post Resumes on MySpace, Facebook or Friendster But Nearly Four in Ten Would Not Remove Any Current Content If They Knew Their Employer Could See It

Steven Rothberg AvatarSteven Rothberg
October 12, 2006


According to the latest Spherion® Workplace Snapshot Survey, 60 percent of workers would not post their resume on social networking sites such as MySpace, Facebook or Friendster for employers to see. Further, even if they knew their employer could see it, 37 percent say they would not remove any content they have posted on their MySpace, Facebook or Friendster site.
Conversely, the survey found that 19 percent of workers would post their resume on such sites, while a third (33 percent) would remove content from their MySpace, Facebook or Friendster site if they knew their employer could see it.


“At the moment, it appears that most workers are using their social networking sites for just that—socializing—rather than mixing business with pleasure by posting their resumes or altering their site content,” observed Nancy Halverson, Spherion vice president of talent development. “However, we believe that the number of workers who would post their resumes on such sites will grow dramatically, beyond the present 19 percent, in the next several years.”
The reason, according to Halverson, is that employers are beginning to use social networking sites as recruiting and prescreening tools.
“When you consider that MySpace is the third most popular site in the U.S., with 93 million profiles, it isn’t difficult to understand why employers would want to tap into this resource,” noted Halverson. “And in today’s increasingly tight labor market, organizations are beginning to use every means available to find—or screen out—potential workers, including social networking sites. In fact, many employers, including the U.S. Marine Corps, maintain their own profiles on MySpace as a way to actively recruit.”
Despite the fact that the majority of adults surveyed would not post their resumes on social networking sites for employers to see, it appears many workers acknowledge that companies’ recruiting and prescreening practices may shape the content of their sites, according to Halverson. “With one-third of adults saying they would remove content from their MySpace, Facebook or Friendster site if they knew their employer could see it, many workers are realizing that the World Wide Web is public domain and that anything posted on it can be seen by anyone—including current and prospective employers.”
Other results from the latest Spherion Workplace Snapshot Survey:
Workers aged 18–24 most likely to post their resume on social networking sites.

  • 24 percent of adults aged 18 to 24 say they would post their resume on MySpace, Facebook or Friendster for employers to see.
  • The percentage of adults who say they would post declines among older age groups, with 23 percent of those aged 25-29, 19 percent of those aged 30-39, 17 percent of those in the 40-49 and 50-64 age groups respectively, and 13 percent of adults aged 65 or older saying they would post.

Female workers less likely to post their resume on social networking sites.

  • Only 16 percent of female adults said they would post their resume, compared to 22 percent of male workers who said they would post.
    College graduates most likely to remove content if they knew their employer could see it.

    • 42 percent of adults who graduated from college said they would remove content from MySpace, Facebook or Friendster if they knew their employer could see it, and 35 percent of post-grads would do so.
    • By contrast, only 29 percent of adults with high school or less education, and 27 percent of those with some college education, say they would remove content from their sites if they knew their employer could see it.

    Methodology
    The September 2006 Spherion Workplace Snapshot is based on data from the Harris Interactive® QuickQuerySM online omnibus conducted monthly by Harris Interactive on behalf of Spherion Corporation. A U.S. sample of 1,601 employed adults, aged 18 years and older, was interviewed in a poll conducted September 5-7, 2006. Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity, income, education and region were weighted where necessary to bring them in line with their actual proportions in the population.
    With pure probability samples, with 100 percent response rates, it is possible to calculate the probability that the sampling error (but not other sources of error) is not greater than some number. With a pure probability sample of this size one could say with a 95 percent probability that the overall results have a sampling error of +/- two percentage points. However, that does not take other sources of error into account. This online survey is not based on a probability sample and therefore no theoretical sampling error can be calculated.
    Note: Spherion is a participant in the CollegeRecruiter.com Insights by Employers Blog. To see their posts, go to https://www.collegerecruiter.com/employersblog/authors/index.php?author=Kip%20Havel.

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