Two things that applicants’ Facebook profiles can tell you about their personality

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There is an increasing trend for employers to leverage social media data to screen job candidates. This is because the popularity of social media sites—such as Facebook—continues to grow, and individuals are sharing more than ever. However, while the practice is being used with increasing frequency, employers have typically had to take the content of profiles at face value—until now.

In a recent study of college employees, researchers discovered that the content of an applicant’s Facebook profile could tell you 2 things about their personality:

• • Applicants whose content reflected badmouthing others were less likely to be agreeable and conscientious.
• • Applicants whose content reflected substance use (e.g., alcohol or drugs) were more likely to be extraverted.

While these findings should, in no means, replace standardized employee assessment, they do shine light on some of the potential implications of candidates’ Facebook profiles. This may ultimately inform more meaningful screenings.

For the original study, please see Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking.