By Jennifer Henderson

My husband, a college professor, likes to remind his students to be careful when posting on social media. He warns them that everything posted online can make an impression (good or bad) on potential employers.

Some of his students act surprised when he says that employers check social media. So, to help support his statement, I decided to research if companies do indeed refer to social media posts when screening candidates. If so, what do potential employers evaluate when they look at a candidate’s online presence? And, how does it benefit businesses to discover what job candidates post on social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Google+?

Looking Online

A recent article in Forbes cited a survey by Careerbuilder.com of 2,303 hiring managers and human resource professionals. The survey found that 37% of employers use social networks to screen potential job candidates. According to Forbes, that means about two in five companies browse social media profiles to learn more about their candidate’s personality and life outside of work.

“Social media is a primary vehicle of communication today, and because much of that communication is public, it’s no surprise some recruiters and hiring managers are tuning in,” Rosemary Haefner, vice president of human resources at CareerBuilder, told Forbes.

What are Employers Looking For?

So, what do the recruiters and hiring managers look for when they seek out a candidate’s online profile? Emily Bennington, co-author of Effective Immediately: How to Fit In, Stand Out, and Move Up at Your First Real Job, writes on Monster.com that online profiles provide employers a peak into the job-seeker’s attitude and personality. When looking at Facebook, for instance, Bennington suggests that hiring managers look at how a candidate engages with friends—is his or her tone positive? Does the candidate show enthusiasm or whine and play victim?

Bennington also suggests that employers look at what groups the candidate follows. On Twitter, for example, employers can look to see if the candidate is using the social media site to follow “industry leaders, respected authors, and major media sources.” In addition, Twitter shows whether the candidate is “sharing helpful articles and links as opposed to just documenting their day.”

Does it Help?

According to Bennington, looking online does helps employers get a sense of their candidate’s personality. “Even small businesses are finding social media can be an enhancement to their hiring process,” she says.

However, the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) warns that it’s important to be smart when using social media for hiring. An article on the SHRM website states that one of the biggest concerns with using social media in the hiring process is discrimination. Social media provides employers with information such as race, ethnicity, and approximate age (information that employers may not be able to obtain until a face-to-face interview). To avoid discrimination charges, Allyson Willoughby, general counsel and senior vice president at career website Glassdoor, told SHRM that employers should first meet candidates face to face before they explore social media profiles. “Don’t do anything different with social media than you would do with a face-to-face interview,” she says.

Have you used social media as part of your hiring strategy? If so, how? We’d love to hear from you in the comments section below.