Should Employers Use Facebook, MySpace, or LinkedIn to Screen Candidates and Make Hiring Decisions? Background Screening Expert Explains the Dangers to Avoid

Tampa, FL /  October 7, 2009 — AccuScreen Inc. (http://www.accuscreen.com), an employment background screening firm, will host a free Webinar presentation at 3PM Eastern, Thursday, October 8, 2009 titled “Social Media Background Checks: Facebook and Beyond” featuring ceo and founder Kevin Connell.

Social and professional networking sites have become enormously popular ways to connect with friends and colleagues. MySpace™ has 125 million American users, Facebook™ has 300 million U.S. members and LinkedIn™ has 47 million members.

Recently, the Florida Bar Associate Board of Examiners updated its policy to include a review of social networking sites for certain categories of its state bar applicants.

Social networking sites also present a tempting source of information for employers. Surveys by the National Association of Employees and Colleges cited in July 2006 that 26.9 percent of hiring managers are currently doing online checks of prospective candidates’ social networking profiles, often before they contact them for an initial interview. Other surveys by CareerBuilder and the National Association of Law Placement support these findings.

According to experts at AccuScreen, screening candidates by reading their online profiles presents numerous legal and ethical challenges for businesses, recruiters and hiring managers.

Employers who choose to use these and other social networking sites, such as Twitter™, must use care to avoid attaining and using information in a discriminatory way. They need to ensure that they are in compliance and do not break privacy laws, as well as be sure that the information obtained is accurate.

This Webinar is part of the ‘Paying It Forward’ series. In celebration of their 15^th anniversary AccuScreen created this free-to-attend series to provide objective, actionable, and important information about the proper role and practice of background screening in the hiring and employment process.

This one-hour event qualifies for HRCI Continuing Education credits.

Reserve your Webinar seat now at: http://www.accuscreen.com/webinars.html. Or call 800-689-2228 to register by phone.