Abstract:

Over the last decade, recruitment practices have witnessed remarkable changes, driven mainly by a shift towards Internet-based recruitment strategies. Today, since the majority of 21st century prospective job candidates are tech-savvy and are greatly immersed in social media, employers and head-hunters are no longer confined to the information that is available on a cover letter or a CV. In fact, thanks to the valuable information that social media host about candidates, recruiters have started using these virtual online platforms to screen job applicants. Given the potential impact of social media data on making hiring decisions, our objective in this paper is to examine students’ awareness and attitudes towards the role of social media in the hiring process. To this end, based on the survey that we carried out amongst a group of Moroccan university students, it was revealed that though 89.3% of the informants were found to use professional social networks, only 45% noted that an online social presence is essential for being successful in a job search. Concerning the potential effect of a candidate’s social media activities on getting hired or rejected, the findings of the survey demonstrated that 48% of the subjects reported that a job applicant might be recruited thanks to his contributions on social media while 37% believe that a person could be rejected because of his online activities.

Keywords:

Social media, recruitment, online reputation.