Social media recruiting and online personal reputation evaluation by recruiters in Israel

Online Reputation (OR) is the public evaluation of an individual, based on his behavior and the information published online by himself or shared by others. The elements of a person's online reputation may include pictures and movies, online résumé and posts or comments in blogs. Online Reputation is an important element when recruiters gather relevant and credible personal information in order to evaluate and screen candidates. Evaluation and screening with Online Reputation is widely used by recruiters in USA and Europe (Haefner, 2009; Cross-Tab, 2010; Madden & Smith, 2010). However, such a study was never performed in Israel.
This research examines the attitudes of recruiters and HR professionals concerning online reputation information in their candidate evaluation processes by asking the following questions: Do Israeli recruiters use online reputation in the recruitment process? To what extent online reputation components are perceived as relevant, credible and affecting the decision to screen candidates? What are the goals and online resources used by recruiters in Online Reputation search? Are recruiters willing to pay for such and information? Do organizations use Online Reputation in their formal procedure of recruitment?
An innovative approach was required to recruit randomly selected Israeli recruiters thru connections within the LinkedIn Network. This method resulted in a 31.3% (N=104) participation rate (valid answers only). The participants (age: 25 to 58, 87 women) filled an online questionnaire, mainly about the impact of online reputation on candidate screening, the relevance and the credibility of online reputation information, free and paid sources used in their tasks and their goals in social media recruiting.
Highlights of the study’s findings show that 85% of the Israeli recruiters use Online Reputation Search in the recruitment process. Means of relevancy and credibility of professional values and norms (like writing about a previous employer or being a member of professional community) were high (M=3.9, SD-0.9) on a Lickert scale of 1-5, compared to pictures and hobbies which were unexpectedly low (M=2.6, SD=1.0). While a positive correlation was found between credibility and relevancy (r=0.32, p < .001, n=97), no significant correlation was found between these variables and the impact on the decision to screen candidates. Other findings show that recruiters use principally free resources like Google (79%) and LinkedIn (96%) for online reputation search and are only 9% are willing to pay for information about candidates (N=8). This study also indicates that only a small number of Israeli companies have made online reputation screening a formal requirement of their hiring process (13%).

在线声誉（Online Reputation，OR）是公众基于个体的行为，以及其本人发布或他人分享的线上信息，对其做出的公共评价。个体在线声誉的构成要素可能包括图片、影像、线上简历，以及博客中的帖子或评论。在线声誉是招聘方收集相关可信个人信息、用以评估与筛选候选人时的重要参考维度。利用在线声誉开展评估与筛选的做法，在美国与欧洲的招聘场景中已得到广泛应用（Haefner, 2009; Cross-Tab, 2010; Madden & Smith, 2010）。然而，以色列境内尚未开展过此类研究。
本研究旨在探究以色列招聘方与人力资源（Human Resources，HR）专业人士在候选人评估流程中，对在线声誉信息的态度，具体通过以下问题展开：以色列招聘方是否会在招聘流程中使用在线声誉信息？在线声誉的各组成要素在何种程度上被视为相关、可信，并会影响候选人筛选决策？招聘方在在线声誉调研中，其目标与使用的线上资源分别是什么？招聘方是否愿意为此类信息付费？企业是否将在线声誉筛选纳入正式的招聘流程？
本研究通过领英（LinkedIn）网络内的人脉关系，随机招募以色列招聘方，该招募方式最终获得了31.3%的有效参与率（有效样本量N=104）。参与本次研究的受访者年龄介于25至58岁之间，其中女性87名，他们填写了一份线上问卷，问卷内容主要涵盖在线声誉对候选人筛选的影响、在线声誉信息的相关性与可信度、调研任务中使用的免费与付费资源，以及他们在社交媒体招聘中的目标。
本研究的核心发现亮点包括：85%的以色列招聘方会在招聘流程中开展在线声誉调研。在1-5分的李克特（Likert）量表评分中，与职业价值观与职业规范相关的要素（如提及前雇主或加入专业社群）的相关性与可信度评分较高（均值M=3.9，标准差SD=0.9），而图片与个人爱好相关要素的评分则意外偏低（均值M=2.6，标准差SD=1.0）。研究发现可信度与相关性之间存在显著正相关（r=0.32, p < .001, n=97），但上述两个变量与对候选人筛选决策的影响程度之间未发现显著相关性。其他研究结果显示，招聘方主要使用谷歌（Google）（79%）、领英（LinkedIn）（96%）等免费资源开展在线声誉调研，仅有9%的受访者愿意为候选人背景信息付费（N=8）。本研究同时表明，仅有少数以色列企业将在线声誉筛选纳入正式的招聘流程（占比13%）。