Quarreling Online Is Almost Bad As Posting On Drug-Alcohol Use, Not Good For Next Job Prospect

Today, social media has become a powerful platform to share your views and opinions with your friends and acquaintances.

However, in case you were looking to apply for a job that you really want, you might want to limit commenting on controversial topics.

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According to a study conducted by Pennsylvania State University, job recruiters are less likely to select candidates who share strong opinions on social media posts.

First published in the International Journal of Selection and Assessment, the study also revealed that recruiters are less likely to choose candidates who share posts on drug and alcohol use.

Micheal Tews, associate professor of hospitality management told in the study how many people don¡¯t really realise the importance hiring managers give to the content on someone¡¯s social media page.

Researchers checked the effect on hiring managers on three negative topics posted on a candidate¡¯s social media page -- self-absorption, opinionatedness and alcohol/drug use.

They got onboard 436 hiring managers from a variety of fields -- 61 percent being from the hospitality industry while remaining 39 percent were employed in fields like IT, healthcare etc.

Researchers gave them hypothetical scenarios for potential job candidates to read, one of which included the candidate to show enthusiasm towards the job with the right answers to the interview questions, while also having a problem of job-hopping.

After this, they asked hiring managers to see their Facebook profiles and choose candidates that they deemed worthy. Managers were randomly given profiles where candidates showed self-absorption, opinionated-ness and alcohol/drug use.

At the end when they were asked to give their final evaluation. The results revealed that self-absorption negatively affected recruiters perception towards the candidates.

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According to Tews, "Social networking sites are often lamented as incubators of self-absorption, motivating people to tell others about their every deed and thought. It could be that hiring managers view individuals who are more self-absorbed and focused on their own interests to be less likely to sacrifice for the benefit of other employees and the organisation."

Being opinionated was second-most factor negatively affecting recruiters, with drug and alcohol abuse coming last.

According to Tews, "People who post divisive subject matter may be viewed as more argumentative and less cooperative. Additionally, their views could run counter to those of hiring managers, which may influence managers' beliefs in candidates' qualifications for jobs."He further added, "One possible reason for the relatively small effect alcohol and drug use content is that hiring managers may perceive the content as relatively normal," he said.