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AuthRight |
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A e-newsletter on Background Screening brought to you by AuthBridge Research Services Pvt. Ltd, India |
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VOLUME III, ISSUE 1 |
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JANUARY 2008 |
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L E A D S T O R Y
Screening employee backgrounds goes a step deeper. Trend it appears is to profile an individual based on their social networking websites profiles and posts.
Recruiters and companies find meaning in digging into personal space to know the individual from his or her web presence. Is this ethical?Is the information so found, authentic?Can the information available on social networking sites be used to understand the persona?Can a candidate dispute the information found?Can an employer make consistent hiring decisions based on the findings?Is the information contained online a real predictor of future work behavior?Should hiring decisions can be influenced by personal judgment, including prohibited criteria (sexual orientation, for example)?And most importantly, will background screening companies use this source?Legalities apart there are many pitfalls in using social networking as a tool for checking on employees.
Possibilities are plenty. A youngster's Facebook entry may carry posts and photos which the peer group subscribes to. Will a recruiter decide against recruiting the youngster in later years on the basis of his wild youth?If an individual posts debatable blogs or has a militant activist views on a current topic, will that colour the recruiter's opinion?
There is nothing stopping one from creating a fake profile of either oneself or creating a profile for another; so what is the guarantee that the profile on any of these social networking sites is of the person it claims to be of?Savvier ones can market themselves on these sites once they know their profiles are being screened. The not-so-upright may create fake profiles of their friends and foes as plain mischief or with serious mal-intent. How will a screener separate the wheat from the chaff?
If as predicted, social networking does become a trend in 2008 for background screening, dangerous is too simplistic a word to describe it. It would be a proverbial can of worms with both the to-be-recruited and the recruiter playing dangerous games on a dangerous territory definitely beyond the purview of ethical and corporate background screening.
Erasing electronic footprints is near impossible Paul Johns, Chief Marketing Officer, Complinet, November 2007
Psychotherapist Andrew Feldmar, travelling to the US from Canada in the summer of 2006, expected some stringent checks at the border in the wake of 9/11. What Feldmar wasn't expecting, though, was that one of those background checks would involve an internet search on his name and an article written in 2001 for a psychiatric journal, relating his experiences in the 1960s with hallucinogenic drugs would be the cause for security refusing him entry into US. Despite having crossed the border more than 100 times since he'd stopped experimenting with drugs, Feldmar was told by a security guard that as a former drug user, he was no longer welcome in the United States. Feldmar said: 'I should warn people that the electronic footprint you leave on the net will be used against you. It cannot be erased.'
Putting Your Best Cyberface Forward First impressions on Cyberspace Stephanie Rosenbloom, New York Times, January 3, 2008
Now that first impressions are often made in cyberspace, not face-to-face, people are not only strategizing about how to virtually convey who they are, but also grappling with how to craft an e-version of themselves that appeals to multiple audiences. People, of course, have been electronically styling themselves for as long as there has been a Web to surf. But scholars say the mainstreaming of massive social networking and dating sites is prompting more people to "perform" for one another in increasingly sophisticated ways.
Facebook Profiles Can Foil Job Searches Youthful indiscretions made permanent in cyberspace Lisa Scherzer, www.smartmoney.com, December 13, 2007
Popular social-networking web sites allow anyone to create an online identity and interact with others. Problems, however, arise from committing the online equivalent of reading one's diary aloud. That might not be a big deal to the 20-somethings who grew up online. But the folks who can offer you your next job probably didn't. If they were to come across that spring break photo while doing their own sleuthing, they might think it unseemly. According to a 2006 CareerBuilder.com survey of more than 1,150 hiring managers, one-quarter of them reported using search engines to screen job candidates, while one in 10 said they've used social-networking sites. The survey also found that more than half of managers have chosen not to hire an applicant after viewing their online profiles.
Should you research job candidates at social networking sites? Mike Ho, www.itmanagersjournal.com November 09, 2007 Society for Human Resource Management' survey suggests that many employers are using the Internet to review information supplied by candidates. The results may be questionable because of its methodology - a self-selected e-mail survey with a very low response rate.. Internet is however a tool that organizations are using to vet and, in some cases, reject job-seekers. Although an employer may not want to know all information and in fact has legal reasons to avoid knowledge of a person's age, race, and other details to avoid discrimination suits, it is visible by default on the some social networking Web sites. Even some professional networks reveal information like employment dates, which can suggest someone's age. Illegal employment discrimination can go well beyond what the Federal government prohibits. More than half of states have laws that prohibit companies from making hiring decisions based on off-the-job activity. Trust-A Word to Watch Trust has to be earned and once lost, one is well aware of how arduous it can be to regain lost ground. Background Screening is building trust. To be sure the right person is being trusted, the person entrusted with the job, the role and the task is what he proclaims to be; companies increasingly are getting their employees screened. Background Screeners trust their sources; be it the word of an HR of a past company, or the word of an office assistant in an educational institution. They also trust databases. The question arises...should they?Intellius.com with an impressive leadership team and stringent compliance measures appears as a definitive tool to conduct screening in the US. Impressive testimonials reflect deep trust in what Intellius reports state. Toss the coin and the picture is diametrically opposite! There's Bob Sullivan, the Red Tape Chronicles author. Then there's Bob Sullivan, who might be a bankrupt child molester with a brother who's a killer. One is flesh and blood, one is a computer creation. Famed cybersleuth Richard Smith once looked up his ChoicePoint report, and says the report suggested he was dead. Trust it appears is a near impossible watchword! A B O U T A U T H B R I D G E |
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FROM OUR CEO's DESK It is indeed an interesting and challenging scenario in the Background Screening space today. We are still working at solving the background screening puzzle. Have we all the answers?Can Background Screening provide the Trust?Will screening drivers, servants, tenants make our world crime-free?Can screening weed out possible offenders; esp first time offenders? To be honest, we do not have definite answers. We, however, are hopeful of finding plausible solutions. Are Social Networking sites an ethical tool to screen employees?Debatable, yet. Do we trust ‘databases'?We do, if certified by a recognized authority. But we have challenges and constraints. These are not unwelcome as they force us to think, to plan, to devise and to achieve. The news report of a proxy candidate is one such challenge. Could screening have prevented it?Screening did unearth cases where the employee assumed a different identity. But if the employee is a fresher, then there definitely is a challenge we need to address. Ajay Trehan |
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AuthBridge, India is an
upcoming, professional pre-employment background screening firm,
headquartered in Gurgaon, India's services hub situated next to New Delhi. With nearly 25% resumes carrying false or inaccurate data, ensuring safe recruitment processes is undeniably high on the priority list. Companies, healthcare establishments, educational institutions all need to guard against the chances of a inapt recruitment. Background Screening is conducted for freshers, for experienced recruits, for Staff & Administration of Educational Institutions, for Healthcare Staff & Administration among others. |
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AuthBridge is an Empanelled Background Screener with National Skills Registry-A NASSCOM initiative This newsletter is brought |
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Information provided on this newsletter has been independently obtained from sources believed to be reliable. However such information may include inaccuracies errors or omissions. AuthBridge shall have no liability to you or third parties for the accuracy. Completeness, timeliness or correct sequencing of information available on this newsletter or for any decision made or action taken by you in reliance upon such information or for the delay or interruption of such information. AuthBridge shall have no liability for investment decisions or other actions taken or made by you based on the information provided on this newsletter. |
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