College students and HR professionals: conflicting views on information available on Facebook

Increasingly employers are using social media as a mechanism to screen potential job candidates. This study examined college students' perceptions of the amount and degree of information available to potential employers who use social media. The study employed a survey of college students to determine how much information they felt someone could learn about them through their Facebook page. Results indicated that participants did not perceive much information about key job categories could be derived from their pages and they planned very few changes even though many believed it highly likely an employer would review their page. A subgroup also had their pages reviewed by HR professionals. A comparison analysis revealed that in several key job‐related areas, such as potential unethical behaviours and communication skills, HR personnel felt that they were able to learn significantly more about the participants than the participants believed themselves.