Avoiding 8 Pitfalls in Social Media Screening For Investment Management Firms

Embarking on a job hunt often involves creating an impeccable resume that highlights relevant skills, past responsibilities, and qualifications. Jobseekers exert significant effort towards these highlighting attributes when eyeing a portfolio manager position. But the question stands: does a polished resume genuinely represent an applicant, or is it merely a crafted facade to secure a job?

One factor that job applicants often overlook is the role of social media in the hiring process. Today’s digital era allows individuals to showcase a slice of their lives, sometimes revealing aspects that might not be very flattering in a professional context. And yes, you guessed it right, hiring specialists are eager to use this additional information.

Recent surveys emphasize the importance of a candidate’s digital footprint in the recruitment process. CareerBuilder’s 2023 survey reveals that 70% of employers resort to social media to vet job candidates. Moreover, a study by Indeed indicated that a stunning 80% of hiring managers view a candidate’s online activity as an essential factor in the recruitment process. Discovering biases or policy violations on social media can raise red flags. If these issues aren’t dealt with, they could harm the recruitment process and damage your reputation.

Curious about the possible warning signals to look out for while browsing candidates’ social media profiles? Want to learn about effective strategies to sidestep potential recruitment missteps? Stay tuned as we break down eight crucial signs investment management employers should be on the lookout for in this blog post.

 

Why screen social media profiles?

When hiring, investment companies want to find not only educated and experienced specialists, but to assemble a team of engaged, like-minded people aimed at a common goal. A new employee must fit the corporate culture, get along with colleagues, successfully adapt and not just stay with the company during the onboarding period, but also become a loyal and productive team member for years to come. Because of this, both professional and personal information should be examined, including social networks.

In addition, social media data can not only help a financial company to learn more about the candidate’s personality but also serve to verify the information from the resume. Most, if not all, hiring managers have repeatedly encountered situations when searching for a particular professional, accountant for instance, during the final candidate’s background checks it turned out that his education was not in economics as he indicated in his resume. The deception is often revealed by reviewing candidates’ pages on social media where they display true data about their university and specialty, take an active part in the graduates’ forum of the educational institution, etc. 

Nevertheless, checking a candidate’s social media profile is not an essential step. This is more of an auxiliary tool that can help the recruiter and hiring manager make the final decision. In general, investment management employers study the following points in the potential employees’ social media screening:

  • Personality traits. A personal page can characterize its owner far and wide. Your internal recruiter can create a slight psychological portrait after reviewing the social media profile.
  • Relevance of information. A social media page can confirm or refute the data from a resume. Facts that did not appear in the resume may “surface” in the process of viewing.
  • Frequency of posts and changes. Simple note: if a candidate posts several posts a day in his profile during working hours, then the future employer should have questions regarding employee performance.
  • Social circle. Tell me who your friend is, and I’ll tell you who you are. By checking the candidate’s friends, it will be easier to understand whether the indicated information is true and what kind of leisure, hobbies, and interests a person has.
  • Meaning of posts. If the content of the candidate’s posts is aggressive, negative, or even illegal, then the possibility of employment may fall dramatically. Reviews about former employers or clients should also be taken into account by the HR manager.
  • Visual component. This aspect concerns more the representatives of creative and media-active professions and not finance leaders: web designers, SMM professionals, PR managers, advertisers, etc. Their personal and professional social media pages are a kind of virtual resume or portfolio.

 

When to raise the red flags?

  • Violent or sexually explicit content

Would you hire a personal trainer whose Facebook page is riddled with violent content about the female body? Or would you recommend a children’s tutor with no pedagogical posts on her Instagram profile but hundreds of bikini photos and duck-faced selfies? 

SHRM 2023 Social Media Background Checks survey highlights that 54% of organizations avoid candidates who post discriminatory or offensive content online. Recruiters have seen a lot on social media, from advocacy of violence to sexual bravado. One swear word and a photo in noisy company surrounded by empty bottles should not scare an employer. But if this is not an isolated case, and the investment candidate is dancing on a bartop in every third photo, it’s understandable when doubts start to creep up about the candidate’s professional skills and corporate culture suitability.

  • Proof or encouragement of illegal activity

Investment leaders are not looking for employees who may have an addiction, a drinking or drug problem harming the team and hindering their productivity at work. In fact, 36% of hiring decision-makers turn down candidates who post about alcohol and drug use, even if there’s no direct proof of taking them.

The only thing the proper candidate can say about drugs is “This is wrong, don’t do that”. If your prospective investment management employee is often cracking jokes about using drugs or being around people who take them or feel comfortable discussing them in such a public platform, that’s a sure sign to put the resume away.

  • Racism and intolerance

People don’t like trolls. If recruiters find out that an applicant is criticizing someone based on gender, religion, race, or other heated topics in the comments, their candidacy is very likely to be rejected. Discriminatory comments are the #3 reason why not to hire a candidate, according to 31% of company leaders in a CareerBuilder survey.

Sometimes even some harmless memes look quite ominous on social networks and can be misinterpreted. Unlike a candidate’s close friends, employers aren’t supposed to understand such a sense of humor. In cases where there is greater room for interpretation, the recruiter or hiring manager may choose to conduct more interviews or even reject the individual, regardless of their other qualities. Employers that have a firm grasp on the scope of their corporate values and the logical argument behind them will be better equipped to discern when further background checks are required and when a candidate poses a threat to the safety of their team.

  • Ranting 

The National Labor Relations Board has declared that employers may terminate their workers for remarks posted on social media, even if the statements do not pertain to the workplace or any of the staff working there. A candidate should feel free to voice his position online but refrain from making angry or overly emotional statements on sensitive subjects, such as policy, or from joining an online dispute that has already occurred. After all, even well-intentioned posts might be misconstrued and spark hostility if the wrong person reads into them.

There is a very thin line between an activist and an extremist. There’s nothing wrong if the investment candidate has his own opinion and he declares it, as it is possible to estimate whether the candidate’s position coincides with the financial company’s values. And, of course, if this position is expressed in a friendly and unobtrusive way without aggression and insults.

  • Lying about qualifications

Background checks for employment history and education aren’t the only things that may be used to verify credentials; social media can, too. Some candidates make false claims on their resumes that may be easily disproved by browsing their social media profiles. Or they can have contradictions between their social media profiles and their CV. These types of falsehoods may assist a firm to understand an applicant’s personal traits and assess whether the individual meets the qualifications for a post.

Additionally, sound the alarm if the applicant is caught plagiarizing on several social media platforms. Plagiarism of creative content is an indicator of a candidate’s ethics, willingness to accept credit for others’ efforts, and potential impact on group interaction.

  • Poor grammar and misspellings

Who cares if the candidate knows the difference between “to be fine” and “to be fined” and how to write the word “accommodate” correctly – is that two c’s or 2 m’s? Well, employers do. Candidates rarely make mistakes in resumes or on professional websites, as they usually check those dozens of times before sending them to the employer. But they often have grammar and spelling mistakes on social networks. 

This is a real “deal breaker” for 79% of hiring managers, due to a TopResume survey. Such blunders speak of negligence and disinterest. Proofreading the text before publication may not take much time, but it will protect your expertise and maintain the trust of the audience. Literacy is especially important for copywriters, community managers, SMM, email marketers, and technical support.

In addition, investment employers evaluate the candidate’s communication skills – the ability to correspond with subscribers and engage in dialogue. And spelling mistakes won’t add a point to an applicant.

  • Bad-mouthing a previous employer or fellow employee

Social media is definitely not the right place to complain about your manager’s shortcomings. CareerBuilder 2023 Social Media Hiring survey notes that 31% of employers write off candidates because of negative feedback about colleagues or a boss. For HR professionals, this is a sign that the person is not loyal to the company and tends to inflate rather than resolve conflict situations. 

For instance, Intel’s internal policy states: “Protecting Intel is part of your job. Do not post confidential information on any social platform. If the information has not been officially published by Intel, do not discuss it.” Employees are also urged to contact Intel’s social media specialists if they have doubts about the veracity of posts about the company.

In addition, bad-mouthing a previous or current employer on social media gives the perception that the candidate cannot get along with others or is not a team player. Financial leaders prefer positive people who can improve the skills and productivity of the whole team, even if team members do not always agree on everything.

  • Limited social presence

What are the thoughts of an investment management employer or a hiring manager when he can’t find the candidate online? They won’t think “He must be so humble, has an ascetic lifestyle, or protects his personal life”. On the contrary, there are going to be two main assumptions: he’s hiding something, or he has nothing to show. Now imagine a web designer who is supposed to have a beautiful, standing-out-from-the-crown profile but there’s no social media presence at all.

According to CareerBuilder, 41% of employers say they might not interview a candidate if they can’t find them online, particularly on LinkedIn. No matter the reason, unless the applicant has a social media profile, his resume is going to the bottom of the pile.

 

“Remote acquaintance” through social networks allows the employer to create a certain image of a future employee, to study his hobbies and interests. At the interview, according to the baggage of this knowledge, the candidate is perceived not only as a professional but also as a living person.

Finding background checks a tough nut to crack? Feel free to get in touch with us at Volar LLC today. We specialize in helping investment management leaders make wise hiring choices, ensuring you get the perfect match for your role and investment team. Let Volar LLC be your partner for a hassle-free recruitment process!