The Use of Social Media in Employee Selection: Prevalence, Content, Perceived Usefulness, and Influence on Hiring Decisions
Abstract
The use of social media assessment (SMA) in employee selection is on the rise in practice, and academic research on the topic is sparse. This dissertation is a theoretically-driven three-part study that answers the call for research on this newly emerging selection procedure. The first study surveys human resources (HR) professionals involved in recruiting and hiring to test hypotheses regarding how SMAs are currently being utilized in employee selection. Study two examines specific types of information frequently found on social media (SM) and surveys HR professionals to test hypotheses regarding the perceived usefulness of such SM information when assessing job-related criteria. Finally, an experimental study is presented in which HR professionals rated mock personal- and professional-based social media profiles on multiple job-related criteria in order to test hypotheses concerning how manipulating SM content impacts attribute and hireability ratings of job applicants. These three studies add theoretical and practical insight to the emerging literature by highlighting the differences in personal- and professional-based SM information and how those differences impact the SMA, and by testing relationships between SM information and HR professionals’ perceptions of job applicants in a controlled environment. Results of the three studies indicate that SMA are considered useful and are currently being used in practice, that HR professionals perceive various SM information is perceived as useful in assessing individual attributes of applicants, and that SM information influences their decision-making regarding applicants in systematic ways. Finally, using Funder’s (1995) Realistic Accuracy Model (RAM), along with the results of this dissertation, a RAM theory of SMA was developed.
Degree
Ph.D.
Advisors
Campion, Purdue University.
Subject Area
Business administration|Management|Organizational behavior
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