Facebook ‘better measure of job performance than personality tests’

A recent study from Northern Illinois University has showed that a person’s Facebook profile predicts job performance better than current personality tests used by prospective employers.

The study showed that Facebook can reveal a lot about key personality traits such as conscientiousness, agreeability, extroversion, emotional stability and openness. The social networking site was found to be better at predicting an applicant’s likelihood of succeeding in a job because it is harder for a person to “fake” a personality on Facebook, especially in front of their friends.

However, many people are aware of the fact that employers use social networking sites to research and compare applicants. Because of this a large number of people, especially students, are privatising or changing their Facebook profiles from anything which may be deemed inappropriate.

When students at the University of Manchester were asked whether they would change their online profiles when applying for a job, almost everyone The Mancunion spoke to said that they would make it appear private.

Dani, a first year Spanish and Chinese student said, “I would make it private and un-tag any horrible photos”. Andy, a third year Chemical Engineering student, also said that his profile was private and that “they could only see my name and profile picture”.

Don Kluemper, professor of management at Northern Illinois University College of Business, assured that partying photos didn’t necessarily count against an applicant. He said that it could show a person to be extroverted and friendly. The study also showed that people gained favourable evaluations if they had travelled, had a lot of friends and showed a wide range of hobbies and interests.

There are concerns about the legality of using social networking sites to screen job applicants. Kluemper said that the study does not advocate that existing tests should be replaced as this is the first study of its kind. He said, “before it can be used as a legally defensible screening tool, it has to be proven valid. This research is just a first step in that direction.”

The study has been published in the Journal of Applied Social Psychology.