To: Virginia Flanders
From: Sean Sladek
Date: November 7, 2012
RE: Online Search as Part of the Hiring Process
Today Hathaway Jones needs to be more careful when it comes to researching potential new
hires during the hiring process. During this researching process Hathaway Jones should attempt
to find out as much information about the candidate as possible regarding his or her reputation or
what actions the person takes. These reputations and actions will have a great effect on
Hathaway Jones in the future. Contacting former employers about the individual will give our
company an idea of him or her, but the next step should be looking at online searches for
information that could potentially hurt Hathaway Jones in the long run. We want to use this
process to hire the best employees possible without losing potentially great employees in doing
so. Currently I am in favor of the standard hiring process, but I suggest that we spend more time
on the online search process.
The Vetting Process
Currently at Hathaway Process we conduct a very basic Google search of the person who we are
potentially hiring by briefly looking at the first few pages of the database search. The goal of this
process should be to make sure that we go more in depth and improve upon our current screening
in order to make sure that the same person we are currently interviewing is the same person
outside of work. At Hathaway Jones we want a person who will represent the company in a
positive light when he or she is out of the office. The Human Resources department at Hathaway
will conduct a search consisting of the following:
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Reviewing the first ten pages of a Google database search.
Visiting any social media outlets that this person uses.
Contacting any former employer in the previous 5-7 years.
The purpose of the Google search is to make sure that the new potential hire hasn’t done
anything that portray themselves in a negative way. By going through the first ten pages of the
search it will enable us to conduct a thorough search on the person. Next by visiting and
reviewing social media sites such as: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, etc., we are going
to be able review how they, as a candidate, portrays themselves to the social media world.
Finally with contacting their former employers in the past 5-7 years we will be able to get a good
idea of how the person was as an employee for that company and discuss any issues that may
have arisen.
Things We Are Looking For
While we are conducting these searches we are looking for a number of issues that may cause
doubt about hiring an individual to Hathaway Jones. Some of these issues are significant
problems that have come up such as any undesirable public action or any damaging items to their
reputation. Through the search of social media outlets we are looking for issues such as
comments and pictures that portray themselves less than an upstanding citizen, comments or
posts with the discussion of Hathaway Jones in a negative light, and any articles about the
individual that would negatively impact Hathaway Jones.
Conducting The Searches
Individuals from the human resources department will conduct the search about the individual
we are interviewing; however these individuals must not have any previous knowledge or ties to
the individual in order to maintain a subjective and unbiased search of the candidate. Each search
that is conducted by a human resources employee should not take more than 45 minutes in order
to maintain company efficiency but still ensuring an effective search.
While performing the searches of the candidate, the human resource department individual will
visit the social media sites that are relevant. During this process, if a social media profile has a
public setting we will review the profile, but if the profile has a private setting we will respect
the privacy settings and quickly skim the profile with not go any further by asking them for a
password to their various social media accounts.
Handling The Information
The purpose of the various searches is not to extensively go-after an individual and find a
condemning piece of information on him or her. The searches are more of a thorough vetting and
review process for the candidate to ensure that we hire the best possible employees possible for
today and for the future.
This search process will be a mandatory part of the hiring process at Hathaway Jones and will be
conducted by the human resources department. Any item that comes up as concerning during the
search process will be reviewed with the individual during a private meeting in order to discuss
and hear his or her side of the story. As a result we are able to make an informed decision about
the individual.
Next, only the human resources department will know about what comes up during the search
process and from there only the relevant information will be given to the hiring manager. The
final decision on who gets hired will fall solely on the hiring managers.
Having a well-defined and organized screening process will help us eliminate possible future
problems that Hathaway Jones might have with its employees. As a result of these policies, the
hiring process will be more effective and efficient by lessening the burden that may fall on the
managers who take on the tasks of hiring the right employee for Hathaway Jones. Any questions
about this process feel free to contact me.