using social media for recruiting handout ( s thomas)

10/28/2010

1

Using Social Media for Recruiting?

Beware Disparate Impact Claims

Stephanie R. Thomas, Ph.D., Director

Statistical and Economic Expert Testimony

MCG

[email protected]

(401) 331-6360

Overview

• Conventional methods of job search & recruiting

• Why recruiters are using social media

• How recruiters are using social media

• Kinds of information available via social media

• Legal concerns of recruiting via social media

• Demographic differences

• Implications for recruiting strategy

• Recommendations

Equal Employment Advisory and Litigation

Support Division, Minimax Consulting

Conventional methods of job search

• According to information from the Current Population Survey (U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics):

– Contacting an employer directly;

– Contacting a public employment agency;

– Contacting a private employment agency;

– Contacting friends or relatives;

– Contacting a school or university employment center;

– Sending out resumes or filling out applications;

– Placing or answering advertisements;

– Checking union or other professional registers.



Conventional methods of job search

• According to information from the Current Population Survey (U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics):

– Contacting an employer directly;

– Contacting a public employment agency;

– Contacting a private employment agency;

– Contacting friends or relatives;

– Contacting a school or university employment center;

– Sending out resumes or filling out applications;

– Placing or answering advertisements;

– Checking union or other professional registers.



Conventional methods of recruiting

• Conventional methods of recruiting include:

– Word of mouth;

– Advertising in newspapers and trade journals;

– Posting with local employment agencies;

– Hiring a search firm / headhunter;

– Contacting temp agency;

– Hosting or participating in job fairs;

– Posting vacancies on company website.



Recruiting via Social Media



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Enthusiasm for Recruiting Via Social

Networking Sites

• Maureen Crawford-Hentz (recruiter for Osram

Sylvania)

– “Social Networking technology is absolutely the

best thing to happen to recruiting – ever.”

• In June of 2009, LinkedIn launched “Recruiting

with LinkedIn Blog”

–Matt Warburton: blog is for “recruiters and folks

who rely on LinkedIn for their hiring needs”

Equal Employment Advisory and Litigation Support Division, Minimax Consulting

Why are Recruiters Using

Social Networking

• ROI – the dollar value of the benefits may far

exceed its cost, and the resulting ROI may be

significantly higher than other recruiting

programs;

• Reduced vacancy days – because of high usage

rates and short response time, positions may

be filled faster than with other recruiting

programs;



Why are Recruiters Using

Social Networking

• Communication responsiveness – because there is less spam, using social networks to communicate may result in higher response rates and/or in more immediate responses when you send messages to prospects and candidates;

• “Hidden” candidates – may identify qualified candidates who cannot be found or successfully contacted using other sources.



How are Recruiters

Using Social Networking?

• CareerBuilder.com: a survey of 3,169 hiring

managers

– 22% screened job seekers using social networking

sites

– 34% used this information to decide NOT to hire

someone

– 24% used this information to confirm their

decision to hire someone



What Kinds of Information are

Available from Social Media?




Available via Social Networking?

• Contact information

• Education

• Employment history

• Licenses and certifications

• Awards and honors

• Technical skills and abilities



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• Contact information

• Education

• Employment History

• Licenses and certifications

• Awards and honors

• Technical skills and abilities





• Photos

• Gender

• Race

• Birthday

• Family members and relationship status

• Sexual orientation

• Religious views

• Political views







• Photos

• Gender

• Race

• Birthday

• Family members and relationship status

• Sexual orientation

• Religious views

• Political views

Legal Concerns of Recruiting

Via Social Media

• Using Social Media for recruiting raises a

variety of legal issues:

– Having access to information that discloses an

applicant’s protected group status;

– Creates the potential for disparate treatment

claims;

– Creates the potential for disparate impact claims.




Via Social Media

• Disparate Treatment - intentionally treating

members of a protected class differently than others

– Checking social media for some applicants and not others

– Evaluating information found on these sites in a different

way for different applicants




Via Social Media

• Disparate Treatment - intentionally treating members of a protected class differently than others

– Checking social media for some applicants and not others

– Evaluating information found on these sites in a different way for different applicants

• This risk can be mitigated with a formal policy regarding the use of social media for recruiting (i.e., allapplicants are researched via social media, information found is evaluated in a consistent manner for all applicants)



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Via Social Media

• Disparate Impact - application of a facially-

neutral employment practice that adversely

affects members of a protected class

– Giving preferences to applicants with largest

number of recommendations, friends, contacts,

etc.

– Only considering applicants with a social media

profile




Via Social Media






etc.


profile




Via Social Media






etc.


profile



Why Does It Matter?

• Recruiting exclusively from social media may

create an applicant pool that is not open to

some individuals

• The demographic characteristics of the typical

social networking user differ from that of the

typical person in the Civilian Labor Force



Demographic Differences:

LinkedIn, Facebook and Civilian Labor

Force

• These demographic differences can be seen when LinkedIn users* and Facebook users** are visually compared against the Civilian Labor Force***:

*Data on LinkedIn courtesy of Quαntcast

** Data on Facebook courtesy of Quαntcast (Facebook data is estimated)

***Data on Civilian Labor Force (CLF) taken from the Statistical Abstract of the United States



Gender Characteristics

0 10 20 30 40 50 60

Male

Female

CLF

Facebook

LinkedIn



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Gender Characteristics

Gender CLF Facebook LinkedIn

Male 54% 45% 54%

Female 46% 55% 46%

There are no differences in gender representation between the Civilian

Labor Force and LinkedIn.

Women are overrepresented on Facebook relative to the Civilian Labor

Force. Similarly, men are underrepresented on Facebook relative to the

Civilian Labor Force.



Race Characteristics

0 20 40 60 80 100

White

A.A.

Hispanic

Asian

Other

CLF

Facebook

LinkedIn



Race Characteristics

Race CLF Facebook LinkedIn

White 73% 78% 86%

A.A. 10% 11% 3%

Hispanic 13% 5% 2%

Asian 4% 5% 9%

Whites and Asians are overrepresented on both Facebook and LinkedIn relative to the Civilian Labor Force.

African Americans are underrepresented on LinkedIn relative to the Civilian Labor Force.

Hispanics are underrepresented on both Facebook and LinkedIn relative to the Civilian Labor Force.



Educational Characteristics

0 20 40 60 80

Graduate Degree

College Degree

No College Degree

CLF

Facebook

LinkedIn



Educational Characteristics

Education CLF Facebook LinkedIn

No College 71% 44% 20%

College 19% 42% 50%

Graduate 10% 13% 30%

Individuals with no college degree are significantly underrepresented on

both Facebook and LinkedIn relative to the Civilian Labor Force.

Individuals with college degrees and graduate degrees are overrepresented

on both Facebook and LinkedIn relative to the Civilian Labor Force.



Age Characteristics

0 10 20 30 40 50

18 to 34

35 to 49

50+

CLF

Facebook

LinkedIn



10/28/2010

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Age Characteristics

Age CLF Facebook LinkedIn

18 to 34 36% 45% 20%

35 to 49 35% 21% 46%

50+ 29% 13% 33%

Individuals aged 18 to 34 are overrepresented on Facebook and

underrepresented on LinkedIn relative to the Civilian Labor Force.

Individuals aged 35 to 49 are underrepresented on Facebook and

overrepresented on LinkedIn relative to the Civilian Labor Force.

Individuals aged 50+ are underrepresented on Facebook and

overrepresented on both LinkedIn relative to the Civilian Labor Force.



Income Characteristics

0 10 20 30 40 50 60

$100K +

$30K to $100K

$0 to $30K

CLF

Facebook

LinkedIn



Income Characteristics

Income CLF Facebook LinkedIn

$0 - $30K 23% 16% 12%

$30 - $100K 53% 54% 50%

$100K + 24% 29% 33%

Individuals earning $30K or less are underrepresented on both Facebook

and LinkedIn relative to the Civilian Labor Force.

Individuals earning $100K or more are overrepresented on both Facebook

and LinkedIn relative to the Civilian Labor Force.



Demographic Differences

• The previous demographics consider each

characteristic in isolation (e.g., gender only,

race only, etc.)

• Demographic differences may be exacerbated

when characteristics are considered jointly

(e.g., Hispanic females with a graduate

degree, African American males over the age

of 50, etc.)



What Does This Mean for Your

Recruiting Strategy?



What Does This Mean For Your


• Using social media may provide you with

information that discloses protected status.

This may violate anti-discrimination laws;

• If social media is used differently for different

applicants (e.g., checking social media for

some and not for others) may create the

potential for disparate treatment claims;



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What Does This Mean For Your


• Relying exclusively on social media for recruiting

may create the potential for disparate impact

claims:

– Eliminates from the applicant pool all individuals who

may be qualified for the position but do not have

access to or do not participate in social media;

– May skew the applicant pool because of demographic

differences between the pool generated from social

media and the pool generated from conventional

methods.



Recommendations



Recommendations

• Be aware of the potential risks involved in recruiting via social media

• Understand what information is permitted and what information is prohibited under federal and state anti-discrimination laws

• Work with corporate counsel and/or outside counsel to develop a set of policies and procedures governing the use of social media for recruiting purposes



Recommendations

• Consider the specific requirements of the

position for which you are recruiting:

– If the position requires an advanced degree, using

social media for recruiting may not skew applicant

pool

– If the position has minimal educational

requirements, using social media for recruiting is

likely to skew applicant pool



Recommendations

• Consider the characteristics of the applicant

pools for similar positions you have filled in

the past:

– Does the voluntarily provided demographic

characteristics of applicant pools for previous

vacancies look similar to the demographics of the

typical social media user?

– If not, exclusive use of social media for recruiting

may skew the applicant pool



Recommendations

• A balanced recruiting program, utilizing a

combination of conventional techniques and

social media, is preferred

• Consult corporate counsel and/or outside

counsel prior to changing your recruiting

strategy



10/28/2010

8

Using Social Media for Recruiting?

Beware Disparate Impact Claims

Stephanie R. Thomas, Ph.D., Director

Statistical and Economic Expert Testimony

MCG

[email protected]

(401) 331-6360

using social media for recruiting handout ( s thomas)

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