Facebook Can Reveal The Caliber of Employee You Will Make

Facebook can reveal more about you than you make think it does.

On Examiner.com I just read about a fascinating study using Facebook to predict one’s job performance; here’s the original article I found.   I’ll summarize my understanding of what they did:  trained reviewers spent five to ten minutes reading an individual’s Facebook profile.  Based solely on FB, a personality profile was created.  Attributes were inferred, “red flags” were discovered.
Using the data collected, they made an educated guess about how each person would perform in their job.  Six months later, they followed up with supervisors of about a quarter of the participants.  Based in the reports collected – Facebook profiles more accurately predicted job performance.

Standardized tests were also used to try and assess the caliber of employees.  This study claims that the brief Facebook review was more accuracte tham the testing!  Here’s an excerpt from the study:

“Those high in agreeableness are trusting and get along well with others, which may be represented in the extensiveness of personal information posted. Openness to experience is related to intellectual curiosity and creativity, which could be revealed by the variety of books, favorite quotations or other posts showing the user engaged in new activities and creative endeavors. Extroverts more frequently interact with others, which could be represented by the number of SNW (social networking websites) friends a user has.”

I just find this so interesting.  Whenever I make a new friend or acquaintance, I love to “Facebook stalk” them, browse their profile and posts to try and get a sense of them.  If you’re looking for character understanding in a social media profile – you can really learn a lot about a person.

It also makes you consider what image your own profiles are projecting.  Would the reviewers glean that I’m a good worker based on my profile?

It’s a tight line to walk.  Part of the study is that people who were honest, open to new experiences, and socially well-adjusted gave off a better Facebook-based impression.  So being too uptight wouldn’t give enough information in this type of review.  But how far is too far?  How much fun displayed is too fun?

Really makes you think.  I encourage all the Snoo.ws readers to check out the article and the full study!