Professional's social network profiles off limits to employers: Robert Walters

The Employee Insights Survey asked over 670 job seekers about how they interact online with colleagues and potential employers.

The overwhelming majority of 70% are not friends with their manager or colleagues on social networking sites, with 60% of people saying they would not be happy for potential employers to view their social network profiles as part of the recruitment process. Further, 45% admit they would check their privacy settings before applying for a job to ensure their social network profile wasn't completely accessible.

According to Robert Walters' Managing Director - Australia James Nicholson, these findings indicate that job seekers are worried about how their social network profiles might be perceived, but employers should also be wary of using social media to make judgements.

"Although there is still a temptation to look up potential employee's social network profiles, employers should be very careful with regard to using it to screen applicants, because it is so subjective. People don't generally use social media, other than professional networking sites such as LinkedIn, as a mechanism to secure employment so it's not an accurate reflection of their ability to do a job well. If you are going to use it to evaluate a candidate it's best to be transparent about it, and make recruitment decisions based on the candidate as a whole."

For more information please contact Lillian Hafez on +61 2 8289 3237 or Lillian.hafez@robertwalters.com.au

About Robert Walters

Robert Walters is one of the world's leading global recruitment consultancies, specialising in the placement of permanent, contract and temporary positions across all levels of seniority. Our teams of professional consultants are renowned for their professionalism, integrity and exceptional recruitment consultancy services. Using a flexible approach to recruitment, we are committed to matching client needs to candidate aspirations to create mutual benefit for both. In Australia we have offices in Adelaide, Brisbane, Chatswood, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney.