How to Find Old Posts on Facebook
If you are a recruiter wondering how to find old posts on Facebook as part of the vetting process, you’re not alone. According to a recent study by CareerBuilder, 70% of employers use social media to evaluate potential job candidates. But, for as commonplace as social-media post assessments have become, it behooves executive search firms and employers to know exactly what they’re getting into.
While searching for posts on Facebook may land you the perfect candidate—it could also lead you into legal trouble (if you’re not careful)! Find out how to find old Facebook posts, without facing a lawsuit.
Before Conducting Social Media Background Checks Know This…
First and foremost, it’s important for executive search firms to understand that employees are protected by federal laws that prohibit discrimination. Prospective job candidates and current employees can not be discriminated against on anything related to their race, color, national origin, gender, age, disability, or citizen/immigration status.
And, while you as the recruiter, may decide to pass on a candidate, let’s say for inappropriate Facebook posts—lewd, racist, or violent content—and not for any of the previously mentioned discriminatory factors, what’s to say the person you decided not to hire will agree?
The fact is this: Any applicant or established worker suspecting discrimination can file with the U.S. Equal Opportunity Employment Commission (EEOC).
Of course, there are protections in place for employers and recruiting firms too, but it’s a gamble—especially if you are not FCRA (Fair Credit Reporting Act) or EEOC compliant.
The question now: How then, can you safely search a candidate’s Facebook posts to gain greater insight into who they really are, without inviting potential legal entanglements?
Legally-Compliant Facebook Search for the Win
At LifeBrand, we help executive search firms and employers safely and effectively scan not only Facebook posts, but other social media platforms as well—on the regular. How? First and foremost, we are FCRA and EEOC compliant. For you, as the recruiter, this means that we utilize a reputation management technology powered through artificial intelligence (AI).
The AI adheres to the federal laws protecting employees and job candidates. Unlike humans, who even at their very best can still run the risk of being biased—AI simply does not have this capability.
But, partnering with a third-party vendor who specializes in lawfully flagging candidates’ social media for harmful posts—such as what we do here at LifeBrand—is one aspect of how we benefit and protect your business. We are also advantageous to recruiters for another valuable reason. In addition to keeping you legally covered, we save you significant amounts of time.
Our technology can filter through social media posts much faster and more efficiently. To date, we have performed upwards of 100,000 scans, detecting more than 3.3 million potentially harmful posts.
Before you move forward with sifting through Facebook posts, learn more about how you can protect your firm, save time, and provide your candidates with an opportunity to clean up their social media.