Social media legal counsel

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Social media legal counsel - http://www.socialmedialegalcounsel.com has forever changed the rules in the job marketplace. The amazing amount of information that is so quickly accessible provides a tempting opportunity to be a fly on the wall of an applicant's personal life. Recruiters need to exercise caution and tread carefully. There are a plethora of social media sites such as Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and LinkedIn that provide instant and often personal information about a candidate.

There are risks associated with social media and if employers are not careful, they can open a Pandoras box of litigation possibilities. Social networking profiles reveal private information such as age, race, political affiliation, gender, disability and religious affiliation. This type of information is usually interspersed throughout a candidate's personal profile.

There are a few disturbing scenarios that can occur when an employer does a social media search on a potential candidate. Consider the following: a recruiter does an internet search and finds the candidates picture and religious and political affiliation and uses this information to weed out that particular candidate, or an internet search reveals a candidate in full regalia at a gay pride festival. What does the recruiter do with such personal information that would have never revealed itself in a traditional resume?

Using online information skates a thin line between invasion of privacy and an employer learning as much as possible about a potential employee. Employers must decide if the benefits of researching candidates on social media outweigh the risks. It is critical that employers utilize legal counsel and develop written policies to determine the best protocol for using this media in their recruiting efforts.
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