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Chapter 14 - Finding the Right Fit. Online?

Brenda L. Berkelaar and Taylor Jackson

Synopsis

Calhoun Communications—a trusted PR firm—needs an expert to lead their social media division. Previously, the firm almost exclusively hired employees using the “friends and family plan.” Their most recent “external” hire was “disastrous.” The HR director and CEO believe most applicants engage in extreme impression management—or outright lying—putting their “best foot forward.” Plus they’ve found that former employers only offer employment dates or “glowing references” so reference checks no longer help that much. Seeking to avoid another disaster, the CEO googles ten applicants to “get to know them,” selecting three finalists. After interviewing all three, the team determines that: one has a lackluster résumé with hundreds of followers online; another has overwhelming qualifications but nothing visible online; and the third has great recommendations and a good degree but some offensive posts. Who should they hire? And should cybervetting be part of their personnel selection strategy going forward?

Keywords: Cybervetting; Online Screening; Impression Management; Personnel Selection; Ethics; Online Identity; Bias; Social Media; Expertise

Key Takeaways and Take a Stand Form

Key Takeaways

  1. Personnel selection is changing because of increased online information visibility and offline pressures to evaluate workers more effectively. (Information is visible to the extent that it is available and easily accessible).
  2. Cybervetting is an ethically ambiguous method of personnel selection with potential consequences for employment relationships.
  3. Expectations about whether a person counts as qualified are informed by available and accessible information. For example, increased information visibility reinforces notions of the ideal worker as a connected, fully committed person who puts the job first.
  4. Cybervetting, and the underlying information visibilities, create ethical tensions depending on a person’s role (e.g., applicant, worker, CEO, manager, HR) and perspective (e.g., individual, organizational, societal).
  5. People often assume that online information can help provide a sense of a person’s core identity by giving a complete, or more accurate, picture of what they are like.

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