Introduction
The approach of using social media accounts in the selection of an employee is highly arguable. Even not considering a crucial aspect of professional ethics, there are many pitfalls in the employment process such as legal rights, case laws, and the First Amendment of the Constitution. The analysis of an employee’s social account can be extremely beneficial if done according to the legislative norms and ethical performance. The social network can be a powerful tool for collecting, selecting, and identifying candidates. “The importance of social networks in labor markets is pervasive” (Calvó-Armengol & Jackson, 2004, p. 426). Nevertheless, the employer must have a well-designed statutory standard referring to the social media policy. Even though the recruiter uses the information from an open account, a candidate can claim privacy violation. This research paper is designed to reveal the main trends of reviewing social media accounts in hiring teachers or professors; its ethical and legal aspects. Also, it analyzes the effectiveness of such practice in selecting procedures.
The Process of Selection Teachers and Professors
The recruitment of a teacher or a professor is a crucial aspect of the educational system both in general and in particular cases. If there is no right person among the applicants, it is impossible to select the one. Usually, employment is done through professional associations, but according to the last researches, almost 40 percent of potential employers use social media to select a candidate (Smith, J., 2013, para. 8). While an original selection process a decade ago included only three components: resume submission, personal interview, and reference screening, now there are many severe selection requirements (Smith, R., 2013, p. 6). The specific of teacher’s work imposes additional requirements on applicants. Checking a social media of a potential professor can give more information than any personal interview or reference check. When a principal conducts a check of social accounts of an aspirant, he is commonly “searching for legitimate evidence to withdraw or rethink a job offer, such as references to drugs or other illegal activities, comments that are discriminatory or harassing” (Weber, 2014, para. 17). While an employer reviews the officially submitted documents of teachers, he is responsible for making an impersonal judgment. Meanwhile, the social media account can be highly contradictive with the applicant’s files, even basically they need to match. Practically, collecting and analyzing information can be outsourced to a Consumer Reporting Agency (CRA). CRA is an outer third party engaged in collecting and monitoring personal applicants’ information in social networks. Thus, the employer is out of risk of the privacy violence accusation. Moreover, for the past decade, new tendencies of reviewing social media accounts appeared.
Trends in Reviewing Social Media Accounts
One of the most disputed trends is the request of data for authorization, which gives an employer direct access to the social account of an applicant. The strong resistance against this trend was met by both applicants and legislators. Another method is less violating, but also less effective. If an applicant has open public access, a school or university principal can without let or hindrance and without breaking the case laws review and use the information of an aspirant. However, having an open page, the candidate should not expect any respect for their privacy. Although there are less permissive ways of getting access to the candidate’s social accounts, they are highly prosecuted. Hacking a page or using the login credentials of another user refers to cybercrime and punishes according to the legislation (Nhan, 2010, p. 11). Finally, creating fake social media pages to get access to the employee’s information leads to a number of ethical and legal consequences.
Legal and Ethical Aspects of Reviewing Social Media Accounts
According to the ethical aspect, whatever is published on the social media page becomes available to the public. Even protected by the social network policy, there are no guarantees of its inaccessibility. Therefore, screening and using the information is not considered an invasion of privacy. Of course, it does not refer to illegal ways of getting the information listed above. There are various ethical aspects mainly referring to the invasion of privacy. Although, there are less obvious aspects of using social media in selecting academics. The privacy rights activists are insisting on the illegality and prejudice of using social networks in choosing college professors, referring to the age. According to the Pew Research Center, only 65 percent of people are using the social network after 50 (Pew Research Center, 2013). Considering an average age of a college professor is around 55 years old (Taylor & Parish 2009, p. 220), unequal conditions are revealed.
Another aspect of reviewing social media while selecting a teacher is legal. There are two ways of gaining information from social media. Legitimate access assumes reviewing of open sources. Illegitimate methods or trends were discussed above. According to the legal norms, the employer should not require “any username, password, or other means for accessing the employee’s or applicant’s personal account or service through the employee’s or applicant’s personal electronic communications device” (Colorado Department, 2015, para. 2). An employer may not force an employee to add him to the contact list of the social media account. It is forbidden to request or insist on changing the privacy settings or “open” an account for public access. Additionally, a manager is forbidden to require access from the personal device to the social account (Social media, 2015, para. 6). If all legal and ethical standards during the recruiting process comply, an employer is entitled to use gained information in selecting and hiring procedures. Meanwhile, there is a risk for the employer of getting nonconforming data from the applicant’s account. Thus, before using social media in selecting a teacher, a recruiter should answer two essential questions. Does the trend of viewing private information justify the right choice of a professor? Is it effective?
Effectiveness of Social Media in Selecting Procedure
The effectiveness of such a method becomes obvious due to several reasons. Firstly, the applicant’s pool increases exponentially. The recruiter may select from a larger and more diverse variety of seekers. Moreover, social media gives real information about the applicant. Considering the interaction with children and students, the main criteria of a teacher selection should be based on the security and right influence. If an aspirant has bad habits or an inadmissible lifestyle a social media will reveal it. Secondly, the effectiveness is confirmed by the reduced time for a candidate search. While references checkup may take too much time, social media gives the employer the possibility to get information from the applicant’s colleagues, students, other professors, and teachers directly. Finally, the reviewing of social media stimulates candidates to be innovative and active.
Conclusion
The efficiency of reviewing social media while selecting teachers or professors is hard to overestimate. The recruitment of the aspirant is a crucial factor for any educational institution. If ten years ago the recruitment process fully relied on the Human Resources Departments, now there appeared a new effective tool represented by the social media. According to the analysis,”75% of companies either using or planning to use social media sites for recruiting” (The Online Recruitment, 2015, para. 1). If used right, the reviewing of available social media accounts can give exhaustive information about the applicant.
References
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