While private organisations are doing everything possible to monitor and track down what their employees are doing online, they’re also using networking sites to do a crosscheck of the background of the prospective employees. They reason that this helps judge the applicants better. 

If the information furnished by the aspirant in his or her biodata is contrary to what is on the social networking sites then the company does a thorough background check of the person.

The HR departments engage the services of the third party to browse through these sites to gauge the behaviour of the people. An employee’s character, conduct and communication with the people is evident through the information posted on these sites. Although this idea is new in India, it is being put to use by some of the companies in Bangalore.   

Metrolife interacted with a few people to gauge their opinion about companies turning to networking sites for information. Most people don’t approve of the idea and think it is unfair of companies to rely on networking sites. A few others thought that it would be better to post authentic personal information on these sites. They aver that it’s always better to be safe than sorry.

Gurusiddesh Hublikar, who works in Sabre Holdings, sees this as just another method of background checking. “It is common to conduct a background check whenever a company hires people. Chances are that due to various reasons people may try to get into the company by projecting fake experience. When the HR department gathers information via LinkedIn or Facebook, the person in question is caught. It’s always better to post authentic information online,” he says.

Also tweeting about your addictions, how much you hate your old boss, abusing co-workers may not only force your prospective employer to think twice before hiring you but could also put your current job in danger.  “People’s remarks online are not a reflection of their level of productivity. Using content posted on networking sites as a yardstick to judge a person is ridiculous,” opines Girish Bhat, an employee.

Maria J, one of the HR professionals says that the practice of crosschecking with networking sites is still a new idea. “In certain cases, when we feel something is not right then we go online and do some random check. The employees are cautioned to use critical information with care, especially information that is outsourced. We don’t infringe on personal freedom and space,” she says.